The Necromancer
by Flyingspud
Summary: A mysterious black unicorn comes to Ponyville, claiming to be its savior. Rated T for violence and swearing. Twilight x OC shipping.
1. What a Welcome

_Death is not as permanent as you may think, Mrs. Orange._

_But I *cough cough*... very well, if it will *hackkk*... help anypony... do it._

_Thank you, Mrs Orange. May your passing be peaceful._

The screams were still fresh in Black Watch's mind. He could never forget the first time he did it. Mrs. Orange was on her deathbed, and as a part of his training, Black Watch was supposed to take it. Otherwise he would fail in his training. He could not fail. There was no way he could. Not with his current standing, he would never hear the end of it. Necromancy was a forbidden art, and to learn it he needed to pull many strings.

But he had done it. His first soul collected.

_Now I can animate a zombie, a minion to do my bidding..._ he thought happily to himself.

But something had changed in his mind. Morals were now his top priority. In the past, necromancy was not so unheard of. Several of the most powerful unicorns specialised in necromancy, and armies of undead were used to fight the wars with the early griffons. When the griffon wars died down, however, the necromancers refused to release their minions. A long, bloody struggle had taken place, and the former throne, a council of 9 ponies, was overthrown in favour of the new Equestrian monarch. Celestia and Luna took the throne, and quickly forbade any ponies from ever studying the school of necromancy ever again.

Until one day when that all changed.

On the 4th day of the tenth month, Black Watch was born. There was nothing exceptional about this event, except for one thing: it heralded a third royal sibling. Black Watch was the brother of Celestia and Luna.

Many thought that would mean a third ruler. They were wrong.

Luna was at this point banished to the moon, and would return in about 22 years. Black Watch was hated by Celestia; after all, he was not an alicorn. There was no way a unicorn could rule Equestria, it would create an imbalance of power. The unicorns would feel favoured, and the other two species of pony would feel shunned. Alicorns were also more powerful, and a unicorn would never alone hold the power to bring forth neither the sun nor the moon. So Celestia did what she felt was necessary.

She disowned Black Watch, and sent him to an adoptive family. He would remain unheard of until 15 years later, when his return would be forged in shadows.

At the age of 13, he was entering the ninth level of magic education, a point at which all unicorns select a speciality or leave for another life's pursuit. Still without a cutie mark, Black Watch was forced to continue. His magical abilities were substantially weaker than most, and he barely passed his acceptance test. The teachers would only allow him to choose from one school of magic, the conjuration field. It required a lot less magical ability from the caster, as it revolved around the use of regents. This was welcoming to Black Watch, who entered the field and excelled in it. He was doing so well, in fact, that he rose to the top of his class and was recognized by Princess Celestia as a prize student. She took him to one of the most highly protected areas of the school, one that only royalty could access. She had made her decision.

There would be one, and only one, necromancer in Equestria.

Having learned all he could from old texts, Black Watch was at the point where he could no longer self-teach himself. He was sent off to the secret order, the Dark Order of Unicorns, to further his training. Weeks turned to months, and months to years. But on the eighteenth of the fourth month, he would undertake his final test of necromancy: steal a pony's soul. It is a morbid task, and involves the breaking down of a pony's will, and then forcing the soul to leave the body. It is very painful to the victim, and requires an excruciating amount of concentration from the caster. Once it is complete, however, the necromancer then has full control of the soul they had taken, and when summoned, it would do whatever it was told.

And by Celestia's sun, Black Watch loved the power.

_Sigh, a new day._

Black Watch had been sleeping under a large fallen tree next to the road, since he lacked a tent. Travelling light was his method, and all he carried was the robes he wore. He rose to his feet, looking around at his surroundings.

It was a cool fall morning, and the leaves were exceptionally colourful this time of year. A light breeze blew through his campsite, and a whirlwind of leaves followed. As beautiful as the woods were, there was no time to lose. Quickly grabbing his things, Black Watch walked out from his shelter, and continued down the road to the next town on his travel list.

Ponyville.

With only two days left until Nightmare Night, Twilight was looking forward to spending another night with Princess Luna. She had said that she would be returning to Ponyville for a second year in a row, since they were the most accepting of her presence.

"Spike, do you have all the decorations ready?" Twilight called to her assistant.

"Yeah, I've got them right here TwiliiiIIIII!" Spike screamed as he fell over the ledge from where they slept to the main library floor below, decorations flying everywhere.

Twilight was about to yell at Spike over the decorations when she was interrupted by Rarity at the door.

"Twilight, darling, there's a peculiar new unicorn in town, and he has requested to see the most powerful unicorn around here. Now before you try to deny it, there is overwhelming proof that you are more powerful than any other pony around here. Now please, we don't want to keep him waiting." Rarity told the purple unicorn.

"Fine, I'll be right there." Twilight turned to Spike, who was just returning to his feet, and she told him to make sure that he cleaned up all the decorations.

_I sure hope that this isn't going to be a repeat of the Trixie incident..._

_Well, they sure seem nice around here. I hope that continues..._

Black Watch was surrounded by a large crowd, of such size that he could not believe they all lived in this little town. He was getting too many questions to continue ignoring them, so he hoped that the pony he requested was coming soon.

"Alright, here I am; the unicorn you requested to see." came a light female voice from behind him.

Black Watch turned to see a purple unicorn staring back at him.

"My name is Twilight Sparkle. Who are you?" she asked.

"My name is Black Watch. Magicae opem." he said, reciting a common greeting for powerful unicorns.

"Huh?" was Twilight's intelligent response.

"It is Latin for magic aid you." he explained. "Now, I would prefer if we can discuss rather important matters in peace."

Twilight looked at the crowd that had gathered, and then back to the pitch black unicorn before her.

"Alright, we can talk at my house. It's just down the road."

"Let's make haste. There is not a minute to lose."

The two unicorns walked through the crowds, and Twilight began to feel uneasy. Not nauseated or uncomfortable, more like she was powerless. This mysterious stallion beside her made her feel weak and defenceless. She could feel the power that this pony held.

When the pair finally reached the library, they were met by a mess. Spike had hardly moved at all, and the decorations were now in a massive pile in the center of the room.

"Spike, I..." Twilight began, but was interrupted by a black hoof being raised in front of her face.

"Please, Twilight, allow me to handle it." Black Watch offered.

Twilight watched as his horn began to glow, but unlike her bright purple aura of magic, his was a sickly greenish-black. She watched as the aura quickly dispersed, leaving the decorations untouched. She was about to take over herself and move them when she was startled by a hoof rising out from the floor. Two light grey ponies, both looking very sick, stood before her.

"What do you ask of death?" asked the first pony to Black Watch.

"Simply clean up the decorations on the floor, then you are dismissed." were the black unicorn's orders.

"As you wish..." the two ponies receded and began their task.

Twilight had recovered from the shock of seeing the two ponies crawling out of the floor, but was now freaked out by the stallion standing before her.

"Wonderful workers, those types. The most loyal you can get. They follow every instruction to the letter. Ita benevolens." he trailed off, watching the two summoned workers.

"Wha... what are they? They don't look natural." asked Twilight.

"Oh, they are far from natural my dear. You see, I am not any normal unicorn. I am a summoner of sorts. Now don't go getting the idea of elementals, as those are rather weak and mostly useless. No, I am not any unicorn. Come, follow me and I'll explain everything." he answered, gesturing to the door into the kitchen.

Twilight was reluctant to follow him, but did after seeing the two ponies cleaning her library stop, and remain fully motionless. She heard one mutter something, and then the two ponies collapsed to the ground and faded away into nothing, leaving no trace that there had just been two ponies standing there.

Spinning around to face the black unicorn behind her, Twilight saw him gesture to the open kitchen door. She walked into the other room, feeling very nervous. She decided that she would simply cast a defensive spell if he tried anything. But what if he blocked it? What would she do then? Twilight kept running these scenarios through her mind, not realizing that she had passed the table, chairs, and was about to hit the wall.

THUD

Twilight walked straight into the wall, leaving a sizable bruise on her nose and the unicorn stallion behind her in laughter.

"Alright, now that that's over, time to discuss serious matters." Black Watch said to the mare on the floor in front of him.

Sitting down, he motioned for Twilight to join him. She rose into the chair across from him, and he pulled several papers out of his cloak. After he slid them across the table to Twilight, she began to read them.

_By the Dark Order of Unicorns_

_This is a certificate of approval to signify that the unicorn Black Watch has passed his required training and is now a fully licensed_

_NECROMANCER_

_under Equestrian and Dark Order law. He has passed his tests with distinction._

_Darkly Facade_

The second paper read the following

_By the Royal Order of Princess Celestia_

_This pony, Black Watch, is to protect the town of Ponyville from all danger using his particular talents. He is to be treated equally, despite his path of choosing._

_The following summons are permitted:_

_Zombie_

_Skeleton_

_Ghoul_

_Gordo_

_Dracolich_

_Officially, _

_Princess Celestia_

Twilight looked back up at the sombre looking necromancer before her.

_What have I gotten myself into..._

The next day, Black Watch rose from his sleep, looking around at where he was. At first it didn't seem like much, but he knew that if he was right, then there would be no such leisure. There was going to be a large attack on Ponyville today. He knew it, there was no avoiding it. Lemminkaenen and his army of elementals were going to arrive in about three hours. He was ready to begin his preparations.

"Black Watch, what would you like for breakfast?" Twilight called from upstairs.

Startled by the voice, Black Watch hit his head on the door frame as he was walking out.

"Um, nothing Twilight, I'm very busy. Thanks anyway." he walked off toward the main door.

"What do you need to do?" Twilight asked him.

Black Watch ignored the question and continued walking through Ponyville. There was nobody around at this early morning hour, but he did notice a few ponies setting up their shops. He ignored them and their greetings, and simply continued on to the edge of Ponyville. There was a sizable field there where he could stage his army. He knew that his foe wasn't one to be subtle, and a large army would be preferable. He knew that the elemental summoner was weaker than he; however he had three minions to do his bidding. These three would be able to tear any army apart. Not through force, however. They were masters of the mind game, and could cause so many rifts in a force that they would collapse into chaos.

Upon reaching the field, he set up his summoning grounds. He was about to begin the casting when he was interrupted by a cyan pegasus landing in front of him.

"Hey, what are you doing to this field? It's going to be used for..."

"Summoning an army, I know." finished Black Watch.

"-planting... wait WHAT? AN ARMY? HERE? WHY?" the pegasus began shouting.

"Because, ma'am, I am here for only a short time. In that time, I must defend this town from a rather brutal bastard. If you would not mind, I would like to get on with my work." was all she got as an explanation.

Being bombarded with questions was not something that Black Watch enjoyed, nor did it allow him to focus better on the task at hand. He attempted to shut the mare's barrage out of his mind and focus on his summons.

_Perhaps she'll leave if I can get at least one zombie up..._

Bad idea.

As soon as the zombie burst through the ground, Black Watch found himself pinned under the cyan pony, and being pummelled by her forehooves and wings. He couldn't lift ponies with his magic, and ordered the zombie to remove her. After a brief one-way struggle, the zombie held the other mare to the ground with ease.

Black Watch returned to the summoning, and began to raise undead after undead. He was going to pull all the stops on this one, and that meant even the Dracolich would be summoned. His strength beginning to fail, Black Watch took inventory of the remaining souls he could summon. After about three more ghouls, he brought forth from the nether Gordo. Gordo was what was known as an Abomination. He stood 12 feet tall, and had a girth of about 8 feet. With two massive cleavers in his hand, Gordo was a truly feared foe on the battlefield.

"Now, miss... what was your name?" Black Watch turned to his captive, who he had completely forgotten.

"Rainbow Dash. Now get this pony off of me!" she answered.

"Fine. Let her go." the zombie released Rainbow Dash, and she quickly flew up, frantically headed for Ponyville.

Satisfied, Black Watch began to open the rift to bring forth his most powerful summon: the Dracolich. The skeleton of a dragon, animated by unholy magic, was something that was near impossible to defeat. Killing its summoner would be wiser.

As the rift began to build, Black Watch was suddenly interrupted yet again by a powerful blast of magic, throwing him about 50 feet to his left, and causing the Dracolich to retreat into the portal.

Being setback like this was common for him, but he was not going to forgive this one. Rising to his feet, he turned to face his aggressor. A second magic wave struck him, throwing him back to the ground in a new blast of pain. Trying to get back on his feet, he saw that his minions were not acting; they were all held back by some form of magic. Looking in the direction of the magic source, he saw no pony other than Twilight Sparkle.

She stood before him, her horn glowing brightly and coursing with energy. She was holding back 150 souls and undead with one spell, which was taxing her to the limits. Her mane was wild, and her face was contorted in pain as she struggled to persist with the spell. Black Watch looked and saw it was clearly becoming weaker, his ghouls were beginning to move again, and Gordo was trudging his way toward Twilight, raising his cleavers aver his head.

"Twilight, stop! Gordo, stop. This is madness!" he shouted, and watched as his summons ceased theirs efforts.

Twilight released the magic, and to Black Watch's horror, it undid all the work he had done the previous morning. All 150 souls were released, and sent to the heavens to live their afterlives. Twilight, barely conscious, looked up at Black Watch and smiled.

"Save Ponyville? Yeah right. Rainbow says you tried to kill her. Looks like you've been defeated." she sneered.

Taken aback, Black Watch looked at the souls ascending to the skies in horror. He had spent years looking for ponies willing to give their souls for his work, and now only two remained. Gordo was an eternal undead, and could not be released. He had simply been dismissed. The Dracolich was never summoned, and therefore was not released. But every ghoul, every skeleton, and every zombie had left him. Without the souls, he was powerless against Lemminkaenen.

"Twilight, what. have. you. done." he growled out through clenched teeth, anger overtaking shock.

She smiled victoriously at him as the other mane 6 showed up around her.

"I have saved Ponyville from your menace. That is what I did." was her answer.

"Twilight, I am going to tell you something, and I mean it in the nicest way possible." Black Watch looked around as the others all listened in on him. Taking a deep breath, he looked Twilight straight in the eye, and said to her:

"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR BUCKING MIND? IS THERE NO SENSE IN YOU? I WAS HERE TO SAVE THE TOWN, NOT DESTROY IT? DID YOU NOT READ THE PAPERSI GAVE YOU? DID YOU? DID THEY NOT SAY THAT I AM HERE ON CELESTIA'S ORDERS TO PROTECT YOU? NOW LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE! YOU DESTROYED MY ARMY, AND THUS SEALED YOUR FATE! PONYVILLE IS DOOMED! ALL BECAUSE OF YOU, YOU PURPLE, WIDE-EYED MUD-PEDDLING BITCH!" he screamed.

He fell to his haunches, unable to stand. He had wielded such power, enough to save the town against the probably 50 or so elementals that would have been summoned. Now he could hardly stand against 5. Gordo and the Dracolich could still delay the loss, but never prevent it.

Looking at the six ponies before him, he saw the looks of confusion and surprise on their faces. They must have been expecting him to tell Twilight something calmly, or admit his defeat. In a way, he had. He knew that Ponyville was now a lost cause.

"But..." Twilight began, although her friends shouting immediately shut her down.

"What did you call Twilight?"

"What the hay are ya'll takin' 'bout?"

"Why in Equestria would you use such brutes to deal with anything?"

"Um, I don't think that..."

"Chimicherry, or cherrychanga? Chimicherry, or cherrychanga? Chimicherry, or cherrychanga?"

"GIRLS! BE QUIET!" shouted Twilight in an attempt to make them quiet down. When they all froze and looked at her, Twilight spoke again.

"I think we should really let Black Watch here explain himself. Maybe we misunderstood the situation is all." she said.

"Oh, well, thank you Twilight. Now you realize it? Ok, where to begin. How about why I was so intent on staying shut up the whole time, alright? I am a traveller, going to wherever Celestia tells me to. Speaking of Celestia, she is, and I am serious, my elder sister. She's about 2000 or so years my elder. Now what I have to say about me is that I am stuck as an outcast. I was disowned from the Royal family at birth since I wasn't an alicorn. Then I was abandoned by my adoptive family for my dark and withdrawn lifestyle. I joined an elite magic university in Canterlot, and then was sent to specialize in the school of conjuration. Do you know why? My magical abilities were not exactly the best. I was the weakest unicorn there. Conjuration is great, because you use regents and other means of magic, rather than just relying on your own ability. I showed excellent prowess in the conjuration of familiars and other creatures, even minor success in elemental summoning. But just before I made my final decision to go into animal conjuration, Celestia gave me another opportunity. I could apply for a school of magic that had not been practiced in over 1500 years." Black Watch paused his story for effect and to collect his thoughts.

"What was that?" asked Rarity, the only one there who understood magic and didn't know about his talents.

"Necromancy, the art of summoning the undead." was the simple reply given.

All the ponies except for Twilight and Rainbow Dash were shocked at the mention of undead.

"But, why?" asked Twilight.

"Simple. It was all I could do. I began to study it directly under Celestia, using old textbooks and documents to learn all I could. Before long, I was sent to the Dark Order of Unicorns, where I learned necromancy from actual ponies. They gave me lessons and let me tap into their magical energy to conduct summons, and then I received my final test. I was so excited to do it at the time. (laughs slightly to himself) Was I ever wrong. I was sent to Manehattan to conduct the test. It was to most difficult task that any necromancer ever needs to conduct. I went to the apartment of Mrs Orange."

Applejack's mouth fell open at the mention of the name.

"You mean, ma Aunt Orange?" she asked.

"Probably. Anyway, she was lying on her deathbed. Mr. Orange had sent a request to have me sent over, as Mrs. Orange had volunteered to partake in this test. After a brief conversation, and after she had consistently and without hesitation given her approval, I... took her soul."

All the ponies around were horrified at the mention of stealing a pony's soul, but none more so than Applejack. Fluttershy quickly began consoling Applejack, who had broken down into her friend's arms.

"Believe me, that was the worst experience of my miserable life. To take one's soul, one must reach out to it, and touch it, grab it, and extract it. It requires so much concentration that you feel as though you have been removed from your body and are floating within the other's body. The screams of pain are nearly unbearable, and I nearly gave up. I knew that I had to do this, it was my calling. I had already received a cutie mark in necromancy, a death's head. That aside, to steal another's soul is the most personal experience anypony could ever experience in their lifetime." Black Watch paused again, this time remembering the experience.

The screams of Mrs Orange remained fresh in his mind, haunting him, cursing him, and never giving him a moment of peace. He was unable to forget that moment when he nearly became lost within the soul of his donor, a terrifying experience. He never made the mistake again, and over time became more resilient to such things.

"Uh, Black Watch, is that everything? You kinda left off at a cliffhanger here..." Rainbow Dash snapped him back to reality.

"Oh, yeah... right, after I took the soul, I returned to my teachers. I was certified as a necromancer, and then Celestia told me the truth about my relation to her. I wouldn't believe it at first, but then I realized she wasn't lying. So I accepted her apology and reasons for disowning me, and she offered to reinstate me as a family member. I accepted that as well, but I requested no royal duties. That was her idea as well, fortunately. I was then tasked with the job of protecting Eqeustria from threats that rank above something the guards can handle, but not serious enough for the Elements of Harmony. Therefore, I was sent out to Equestria's ugliest places, and now I'm here." wrapped up Black Watch.

The mane 6 stared at him for about 15 seconds before they all suddenly had a look of realisation on their faces. They all went to their knees, bowing before the black unicorn.

"Whoa, I'm not your superior. I may be the brother of Celestia and Luna, but I hold no royal authority. They have assigned me the status somewhere between the most wanted criminal and the crud that you can find under the washing machine. Don't bow to me."

The six mares rose to their hooves again, looking slightly awkward as they did so.

"But still, you may not be as angry at me anymore, maybe you feel sympathetic for me, maybe afraid of me. But, I am still mad at you, Twilight. You have sealed Ponyville's fate. By releasing all the souls I had collected, you have made it so that all I can do is summon two minions." clarified Black Watch.

"Black Watch, what exactly..."

"Please, Rarity, call me Watch."

"Alright Watch, what exactly do you intent to do now, darling?" asked the white unicorn, who seemed to have finally found her voice.

"Well, I can only do one thing in good conscience. That is defend Ponyville to the death." Watch looked off to the treeline, thinking about what he had just said. The ponies would either hold him to that, or not allow it.

"Die? N...no, you... you can't do that!" shouted out Fluttershy, without realizing what she had said.

Upon realizing everyone was looking at her, Fluttershy shrank back down, embarrassed.

"I appreciate your concern, Fluttershy. But it is my sworn duty to protect this town and this nation to my death. If I surrender, you will all die instead. Therefore, I will fight, and if I die, I die with honour." Watch simply stated.

"But..."

"No buts. It is my decision, not yours. It is my duty, not yours. Leave if you want, die by my side if you want. But I will leave this town either victorious, or my soul departed. Understood?" he began to glare at Fluttershy, making her shrink back even more, to the point that she attempted to hide herself in her mane.

"Good, I'm glad we have this understanding." Black Watch turned back to the field, and prepared to resummon Gordo. As the earth cracked and bulged as the abomination tore through the dirt, the instantly recognizable hands of Gordo pulled the massive girth to the surface.

"What do ya want, master?" he asked blankly.

"Hold on, I have other matters to attend to."

"As you wish."

Black Watch glanced back and saw the mane 6, all watching with fear, shock, or curiosity. The large rift to the Nether Realm reopened, and out from it emerged a large dragon's skeletal foot, followed by the remainder of the wyrm. The six mares all retreated back in horror, except Fluttershy, who saw the dracolich as a threat, and was determined to make sure it didn't harm her friends.

"Well, brave all of a sudden, eh Fluttershy?" asked Watch, without turning to face the yellow pegasus behind him.

That was what caused Fluttershy to back down, simply because he knew that she was there. She was more afraid of this pony than anything else she had seen in her life. Before, she had been able to deal with things, or her friends could at least offer their support. But with all of them terrified of this one unicorn, Fluttershy was forced to back down.

When the dracolich fully emerged from the portal, it let out a large burst of hellfire from its maw. The ponies all backed farther in horror, until they saw it lay down and allow for Black Watch to climb on its head.

"Now then, since my entire forces are summoned, I'm going to have to ask you to stay well away from Ponyville, understood? I don't want you getting caught in the crossfire." he said to the six mares.

Upon seeing their pretty much universal nods, Watch turned the drake towards the town, only to see what he had feared the most.

The small town was lying in ruins, fires burning everywhere, ponies screaming as they ran for their lives, and some lying dead in the streets.

Morals would have to wait. It was time for vengeance. Lemminkaenen would pay for his crimes.

_Hell. It's about time._

**A/N**

**This is my longest chapter yet. It may seem like I am rushing this story, and yes, I am. I intend to finish it in about 4-5 chapters. If it is well received, then I will maybe make a new plot line and continue it.**

**Also, for my other fanfic, Rogue Trooper: yes, the next chapter is in production. However, I have been having serious writer's block, so it is going very slowly.**

**If you're wondering, the name Lemminkaenen is from a Finnish summoner.**

**Chapter quote: Hell. It's about time. –Tychus Findlay.**

**Please R&R, and until next time,**

**Flyingspud **


	2. Logical Fallacies

**A/N: For future reference, I will write every author note in bold, and it will be the only thing in bold. Italics are reserved for thoughts and lyrics. Also, you may find that I am taking many names for OCs from history and video games. Now, seeing as I have a need for them, OC requests are now open. Send me a PM with the details about your OCs and I might add them in. Keep in mind they will most likely be minor antagonists, although I might make some into protagonists. Thanks to all of you who are reading this, and please, R&R.**

The fires burned in Ponyville, and the smoke was too thick to fly. The dracolich was grounded by the clouds, so the three saviours began a mad dash for the town center. As they approached the edge of town, Gordo was immediately knocked back by a large blast of air.

_Damn air elementals... roast 'em!_

As he telepathically commanded the dracolich, it let out another blast of hellfire. The elemental was overheated and dissipated. As the dracolich turned victorious, it was thrown through the wall of a large house behind it. The earth elemental stood over it, and began to pummel the drake. As Black Watch felt its power slipping, he called out for Gordo.

_Dammit boy, where are you?_

"RIGHT HERE MASTER!" Gordo hollered out as he came running down the street, knocking everything out of his way.

"IIIIIINCOOOOOMMMMMINNNGG!" he cried as the gap between the elemental and the abomination closed rapidly.

Before it could raise anything to defend itself, Gordo had run both cleavers through its body, and it dropped to the ground. As the abomination turned to face the next opponents, the drake had risen to its own feet, and was back in the fight. Black Watch struggled to maintain control of the two beasts as they flew into berserker frenzies, slashing and hacking at any elemental that got in their way. Before long, the ground was scattered with the spent regents of elemental summons.

_Pitiful, they are so easy to summon, yet so weak. This is one of the reasons I switched to necromancy._

Upon completion of that thought, Black Watch felt something. Not physically, not mentally, but he felt something. He knew something was wrong. He knew there was a reason that his two minions had slain over 40 elementals and were still going strong.

_They aren't trying!_

He knew it was a distraction, but a distraction from what? What could Lemminkaenen possibly achieve by burning the town and sacrificing all these elementals? Then it hit him like a truck:

The Elements of Harmony.

He had left them unattended in that field, making it too easy for each of them to be lured away and captured.

"It's a trap!" he shouted, causing the two summons to turn and face him.

"Orders master?" asked Gordo.

"Carry on killing elementals. Drake, return me to the field."

The dracolich bowed to the necromancer, allowing him to climb onto its skull. As the flames had died down without a constant supply of fire from the fire elementals fuelling them, it was now possible to fly. The dracolich took to the air, leaving a large cloud of dust in its wake. Black Watch took the opportunity to look at what had happened.

What he saw made his heart sink, a nearly impossible feat. Where just the day before ponies had lived and played, he saw nothing but ruin. Corpses littered the streets, many burned beyond recognition. There was nothing that could have prepared any pony for this type of destruction. He saw that three main buildings still stood, almost unscathed, almost too coincidental to be true. The three standing structures were none other than the Ponyville Library, Sugarcube Corner, and the Carousel Boutique.

_Now why would he leave these three structures standing and not something like the town hall... probably because of the Elements of Harmony...?_

As the field approached, Black Watch saw the mane 6 ponies coming into view. However, they were not quite normal, he noticed. Each pony appeared quite angered at each other. Pinkie was yelling at everything, and claiming to hate it all. Rainbow Dash was nowhere to be seen, Fluttershy was acting like a total bitch, Applejack seemed normal, and Rarity was hoarding everything she wanted to. Twilight herself was changed, and looked like she had snapped.

_Oh no, please no, he couldn't have... why did it have to be this one on these ponies?_

He recognized it instantly. Although many would see it as the work of Discord, Black Watch could tell immediately that it was not. Discord was still imprisoned in Canterlot; he had seen the statue himself not two days prior. No, Discord couldn't have done this. It was another, a master of the mind game, and one who was a master troll.

Logical Fallacy.

A real asshole of a pony, the earth pony had learned from a young age how to confuse ponies into states of disbelief or rage by contradicting his every point. He had furthered that talent to the point that he could trick a guard into being a lady. He could change someone into their complete opposites, simply though speaking with them.

"Twilight, what's going on here?" asked the necromancer as he descended from his dracolich.

"Oh, none of your business. It's just my friends are a bunch of douchebags." she said in a rather sarcastic and displeased tone.

"Pinkie, what's wrong with her?"

"I don't care! I hate other ponies! I'm fine alone!" she snapped back.

"Fluttershy?"

The next thing to hit Black Watch was a yellow hoof, knocking him to the side.

"Oh, did the big and powerful necromancer fall down?" Fluttershy asked in a mocking tone, laughing at the black pony lying on the ground in front of her.

"WHAT ARE YOU LAUGHING AT!" exclaimed Pinkie.

Looking around, he knew it would be pointless to ask Applejack, since she would likely lie, and Rarity wouldn't let anyone near her and her pile of assorted garbage. He had to do something to get them back. They weren't controlled by any sort of magic, so it would simply be a matter of convincing them to return to their elements.

Maybe it wouldn't be so simple.

-Rainbow Dash's POV-

_Those losers... I can't believe I hung around with them. I wonder how they're doing... wait, why do I care? Do I care? Why should I care? They've done almost nothing for me! Or did they? That other pony said that I should really consider doing something worthwhile, and that they were keeping me from my life goal..._

I continued thinking as I flew toward the floating city of Cloudsdale. I knew that the Wonderbolts were going to be performing there today and today only. If I was going to impress them, today was the day.

Cloudsdale was growing closer, and I could see the line up for the Cloudiseum. I looked around, and then I saw them: the Shadowbolts.

**DIDN'T SEE THAT COMING DID YOU?**

When I saw them instead of the Wonderbolts, I was crushed. I had abandoned my friends, the ones who had thought me the most loyal friend you could have, and I left them. I left them to face that sorry son of a bitch alone.

"RAINBOW DASH!"

Upon hearing my name, I spun rapidly, and saw something I never would have expected.

Black Watch, standing on the head of his dracolich, was speeding toward me. He had a frantic, yet defeated, look on his face, and the dracolich was glowing dimly, rather than the bright flames that had burned earlier.

"Watch, what happened? Where is everypony else? Did they get captured? Are they dead?" I asked frantically. He shot me a harsh look, causing me to instantly shut up.

"No, Rainbow Dash, they are not dead, nor captured. They are not themselves, however. Remember the Discord Incident?" Black Watch replied.

I nodded in acknowledgement. I hated to think about that, it was the only time I had ever abandoned my friends, aside from now.

"Well, it's a similar story now, except this time, they are not controlled by magic. That other pony, you must have spoken with him, Logical Fallacy? Well, he is a master troll, as it would be. He is better at mind games than any other pony I know of. Now we need to convince your friends that he was wrong. Believe me, they believe exactly what he told them." the stallion explained, still standing on top of the dracolich, which was now leading me back to Ponyville.

"So, what do we do now?" I asked him.

"Well, it seems that Twilight would be the easiest to get back, and then she only needs to cast that memory spell on the others. Alternatively, we can try to convert them all back individually, but I really think that getting Twilight to cast a spell would be easier."

-Third person POV-

The two ponies flew over the ruins that once were Ponyville. The only buildings still standing tall were the homes of the mane 6. Rainbow Dash nearly threw up when the smell hit her nose. It was the smell of burnt flesh, mixed with charred earth, and rancid meat. The dead remained littering the ground, and Gordo continued making his rounds of the town, gathering survivors. On the edge of Ponyville, there was a group of tents, in the royal colours, set up, with royal guards scattered about, doctors tending to the wounds of the survivors.

The dracolich landed in the field on the outskirts of the town, about 50 meters from the tents. As Rainbow Dash landed beside them, Black Watch dismounted his minion.

As the two ponies approached the guards, Black Watch was hit with another spell, and was thrown back to the feet of his dracolich. Rainbow Dash was pulled past the guards, and about 6 unicorns surrounded Black Watch. He just gave up trying to escape or fight back. As he was dragged into the main tent, he came eye to eye with a scenario that he had seriously hoped to never see.

Princess Celestia and Luna, both speaking with none other than Logical Fallacy.

"Fallacy! Get out of here!" he shouted at the earth pony he saw in front of him.

"Oh, well, what a surprise! Who knew that I would get the chance to speak with the one champion of Equestria, how exciting!" he began, but was quickly silenced by a blast from Black Watch.

"Shut up, you're getting on my nerves. I'll let you go if you convince the rest of the elements back to being themselves." he said simply.

"Oh, but that's no fun! I like them a lot better the way they are now, and don't forget about your useless princesses! I really hoped that they would be a little harder to break, but then again, I am the master. Ah, Miss Dash! I see that you're back to normal, or so you think. You know what? I think that my other master would like to speak with you! Yes, I think he would like that very much!" the pale green stallion rambled on, before grabbing Rainbow Dash's mane and pulling her out of the tent.

Black Watch leapt after them, narrowly missing Logical Fallacy's tail as he flew from the tent.

"Black Watch, help! This guy's bucking strong!" Rainbow Dash shouted.

"Oh, no, it's not me you see. If I were holding you, then I would be in physical contact with you."

"But you are! How else are you pulling me?"

"No, I'm touching your mane, not actually you. Now, I think that a one Mister Sheogorath would like to see you, Dashie."

As soon as he spoke the name, Dash tensed up, and kicked her captor hard across the face.

"Nopony. Calls. Me. Dashie." she seethed at the pony before her, currently lying on his back, holding his jaw.

"Oh well, that's a crying shame Dashie. Master, I am ready!" he cried out.

Before anyone else could react, the two ponies teleported to who knows where, leaving a shocked Black Watch. Rainbow Dash was his last chance to get the others to cooperate, and now he had no idea where she had gone.

_Damn, now what? Wait, he said that he broke the princesses... better look into that..._

He re-entered the tent, and saw Celestia and Luna locking horns. They were both stuck in a shouting argument, one that would have no winner. Celestia's horn began to glow and Luna's glowed in turn. Both were pouring all their magic into disposing of the other. Black Watch, not wanting to get caught up in this mess, quickly backed out of the tent.

Gordo walked up behind him, and startled the necromancer when he spoke.

"Master, all the survivors are here. All of the dead are over there." he gestured over to a large pile of bodies on the forests edge.

"Good work Gordo. Take a break, but stay close to this camp. Engage any elementals that come by. Same applies to you." he said, the last part directed at the dracolich.

The two monsters grunted in acknowledgement, and the black unicorn turned to the ruins of what was once Ponyville. Deciding that he had to try, he began walking toward the library.

The library, upon closer inspection, was more heavily damaged than Black Watch had previously thought. He could smell the burnt books as he approached, although that could easily have been the scent to the, which was also slightly burnt. Letting out a tired sigh, he pushed the door open, only to be face to face with a very confused Spike.

"Wha... hey, get away from me! I know what you did to Twilight, and I won't let you do any more damage than you've already done!" he shouted defensively, holding out a scroll as if it were a sword.

"Or what, you're going to give me a paper cut? No Spike, I'm here for the purpose of fixing what's been done to Twilight. She is clearly not very pleased, and I simply want to talk to her." was Black Watch's sharp reply.

Spike reluctantly stepped aside, realizing at that point just how useless the scroll would be as a weapon. All he could do was hope that Black Watch could get Twilight back to normal.

As he approached Twilight's bed ledge, he heard her cry out

"Go away, I don't need anypony!" she yelled out.

"Twilight, we need to talk." was the black unicorn's sombre response. He had no intention of leaving.

"Oh no, not you again! I'm going to tell you what I told Spike: leave me alone. That's the only warning you get." she snapped back.

"Well, do your worst. I'm here to help you, even if you don't want it. I don't want you to turn out like me, Twilight." he said back, remaining calm, and calling the purple unicorn's bluff.

"What... what do you mean, turn out like you?" she asked, peering over the ledge at the black stallion below.

"I mean, I could tell how close you were to your friends. I know you didn't mean what you said about them being douchebags, you just thought you did. But that aside, I don't want that friendship I saw to go to waste. I never had friends, not even as a young colt I couldn't make any. They were all discouraged by my behaviour, my heritage, and my interests. I was that colt who nopony would ever speak to, I was always alone. I tried to talk to others, but they would just exclude me. That stayed with me, and I remained alone for most of my life. In fact, the closest thing I have to a friend is no longer with me." he stopped his story to give it a chance to sink in on Twilight.

"You never had any friends, not even one?" she asked, seeming quite interested in Black Watch's story.

Letting out a deep sigh, Watch braced himself. He had never told anypony this, not even Princess Celestia knew.

"Twilight, I'm about to tell you about my first friend. She was quite similar to me, a social outcast, even of similar background. Her family was very elitist, even more so than mine. Together, we went through magic school in Canterlot, but when we entered more specialized magic, we went our separate ways and lost contact. That is, until three years later, when I ran into her again." he paused again, this time as a flood of emotion hit him. This was weird, he never felt this way before.

"Well, what happened?" Twilight was obviously intently listening, and he could see that there was much sympathy forming for him in her mind.

"Well Twilight, she was just as happy to see me as I was to see her. She had gone on to begin performing magic acts, and was quite popular. We chatted a little more, and then she asked what I had done in magic school. Put simply, she was the first to accept my story of becoming a necromancer, she was actually excited. So I showed her what I could do, and it definitely impressed her. But later that evening, we were walking out of her show, the last performance before she went on tour for the first time after being ruined. We had nearly made it back to her home, but somepony wasn't so appreciative of her act. He grabbed her from behind, and stabbed her in the chest." he paused again, this time the emotion was too much. He could see the tears flowing down his face. This was the first time he had showed any emotion in years, and he had a lot bottled up.

Twilight watched as he fell back on his haunches, and she was shocked that this stallion, who had put up such a strong front, one of toughness, one of fearlessness, one of mystery. She quickly hopped down to his side, sympathetically embracing the broken stallion. As he sobbed, she could make out names, names she had never heard, but she understood their relevance.

After many long minutes passed, Black Watch managed to get himself partially back under control. Twilight realized then that her arms were still wrapped around him, and she broke off, remaining near his side. After another several minutes, Black Watch was back under control, looking very different. Physically, his muzzle was soaked with tears, but he had changed emotionally. Twilight could see that he had just let out five long years of pain, horror, and sorrow. When she had finally worked up enough courage to speak to him again, she asked

"Black Watch, what happened next?" she asked.

"Well, where were we? Right, right, the stabbing. After she was attacked, I spun around, and lost control. The bloke must have been no older than 19, but I couldn't restrain myself. As I spun, I let loose the full fury of my bottled emotions. At first I didn't know what spell I had cast, but then I realized what it was. I realized it, but I didn't stop. He was screaming in pain, in horror, but I just kept going. His mind was fragile, and I broke it quickly. But rather than just finish the job, I poked around a bit. I looked into his memories, into his own emotion. I had entered his soul. I had actually merged mine with his, temporarily. I was overcome with his essence, and I felt myself being drawn from my own body. I quickly finished that spell, and that was the first time I did it. I stole, rather than taken with consent, a soul." he paused yet another time, this time to let it sink in on Twilight.

She had a look of mixed shock, fear, and sympathy on her face.

_I can't believe this. I hardly know him, but he told me his most private story? I admit, he is sort of scary, since he can steal a pony's soul and all, but I know that I must help him. He isn't quite as tough as I thought he was..._

When she finally spoke again, Twilight asked

"So, what happened to your friend?" she asked.

Black Watch looked up from the floor before replying

"Well, she was still alive on the road. She was very weak, and there was no way I could save her. She looked to me, and told me that she was prepared to offer her soul to me. I gave her the usual spiel about the downsides, but she was persistent. After overcoming my psychological barriers, I took hers as well. She wasn't the same when I summoned her, but she retained magical power even in undeath. Using a different ability that took a long time to learn, I was able to speak with her by opening the realm of the dead. It was a rather draining spell, and I could only speak for fifteen minutes. The last thing she did was give me something I never expected." he stopped again, wondering if it would be too much for Twilight.

"What was it?"

"It turns out that they have physical objects in the realm of the dead. What she gave me was this, the first gift I ever gave her."

As he spoke, Black Watch held up an old looking necklace, one that had on it one metal piece, and was engraved with the words:

_To my first and only friend,_

_Trixie_

As she read the name, Twilight gasped.

"What is it?" Black Watch asked, curious by the mare's response. "Did you know her?"

With a mortified expression, Twilight replied

"Yes, I knew her. I was... I mean to say... I ruined her reputation, and sent her back to the start."

Black Watch looked over at the purple unicorn, but to her surprise, rather than glaring daggers, he gave an understanding look.

"Yes, I know. She told me about it, and we laughed about the story. What you did really cleaned up her act, and she decided that it was time for a fresh start. Rather than being the Great and Powerful Trixie, she was simply Trixie. There was no exaggerated stories, no lies about vanquishing the Ursa Major." Black Watch said in response, and quite calmly.

Twilight remained silent, not knowing what to say. She had been faced with enough recently, and now she was determined to do whatever she could to help Black Watch in his mission to stop this evil that he had thus far been forced to fight alone.

"Black Watch, I want you to know that I am ready to help you stop this summoner, Lemminkaenen, no matter what." she said with determination in her eye.

Black Watch smiled. His conversation had the desired effect, Twilight was on his side, and he had gotten his miserable past off his chest. But before he could celebrate his small victory, he was stopped by the mare wrapping her arms around his shoulders, turning them face to face. The purple unicorn stared into the eyes of the black stallion, and drew him into a close hug. He was starting to get second thoughts about how successful his endeavour had been.

Rainbow Dash was fighting for her life; these apes were stronger than they looked. As she struggled, they only seemed to grasp her arms and legs tighter. She reluctantly gave up her fight, these things were too strong.

"Oh, Miss Dash, what a surprise. You do not disappoint, Mr. Fallacy. Consider yourself safe for another year." came an oddly familiar voice.

Her ears perking up at the sound, Dash slowly looked up at the entity standing before her. It was none other than Discord himself, but he did not appear to be quite whole. There was something missing. Something important.

_It's just the statue!_

Rainbow Dash found herself surrounded on all sides by a room that was so random it could give Pinkie Pie a run for her money. On one side, it was burning, but with colourful smoke, on another it was covered in abstract art, another had simply a door, and the fourth wall was more of an illusion. It was an infinite staircase. From the stairs descended Logical Fallacy. He appeared quite proud of himself, and his cloak fell. Two long wings burst from his side, and a long pointed horn became visible on his forehead. The newly revealed alicorn approached his prisoner, a smug look of victory on his face.

"Well well well, Dashie, how do you like my humble home? It's not much, but you'll get used to it." he said before going off on a long mindless rant.

Rainbow Dash suppressed her rage at being called Dashie, and began looking around for a way out. There was nothing she could think of other than the door. She waited for the opportunity to arise when she could bolt for the door and escape.

"Now that is precisely why I brought you here Dashie, to keep you away from your meaningless friends." the madman concluded.

Snapped back to reality, Rainbow Dash saw the look in the alicorn's eye. He began to cast a simple levitation spell, and he carried Dash to where else, the kitchen. Not to cook, however, he already had a whole staff to do that, no, what Logical Fallacy wanted was a good shave. Most barbers were quacks, and he never got a good shave. He hated facial hair, so he wore his goatee on his shoulders. But even shoulder hair needed a shave occasionally, and this was one such occasion.

"Alright Dashie, go ahead. My goatee won't shave itself you know. I mean, I could enchant it to do so, but what fun is that?" the alicorn laughed as he sat down.

Rainbow Dash looked at her hoof, and saw the tool she would use. A typical straight razor. In her hooves, this was no better than a butter knife. Dammit Jim, she's a weather mare, not a barber! In Dash's hooves, this may as well be a weapon.

_A weapon..._

"Come on Pinkie, we don't have all day! Get out here!" Twilight shouted into Sugarcube Corner.

"Why should I? I hate you all!" retorted the pink pony.

"No you don't Pinkie. You only think you do, Logical Fallacy convinced you that you do. But you don't. You are still Pinkie Pie, Element of Laughter. That cannot change. So please, come here." stated Black Watch calmly.

Pinkie stared out at the stallion who had been trying to get to her for the past hour. With Applejack and Rarity's help, the black unicorn had managed to get this far. If he could get Pinkie to see logic, then he would succeed.

But getting Pinkie to see logic was like holding back the tide with one finger. It was impossible. Unless...

"SV_CHEATS 0!" he shouted.

As soon as he thought that, Pinkie suddenly stopped bouncing around. Getting confused stares from the other ponies, he spoke to Pinkie again.

"Remember, you are Pinkie Pie, Element of Laughter. That cannot change. You are always going to be the embodiment of laughter." he said for probably the 5th time.

They all expected Pinkie to just yell back, but this time, instead of yelling about something she hated, her mane poofed back up to normal Pinkie Pie fashion.

"OMICELESTIAYOU'" she burst out before running out of breath.

Trying to hold back their laughter at Pinkie's expense, Black Watch yelled out

"SV_CHEATS 1!"

Pinkie suddenly popped back and went off on a tangent, going on and on about how she was so bored when she hated things. As the group walked off to find Fluttershy, the inevitable question came up.

"Where's Rainbow Dash?"

All the ponies looked at Pinkie, who had asked the question, and then to Black Watch, who was the only one to have seen them go off.

"Well, it's a long story. The abridged version is she went to Cloudsdale, I found her, we came back to Ponyville, and she was abducted by Logical Fallacy." he explained.

There was much chattering from the group as they tried to conceive their ideas about what the bastard would do to Rainbow Dash. Suddenly, they heard a rather mocking laugh from the tree behind them.

"Boo hoo hoo, did somepony their precious _friend_."

Spinning around, the group saw that Fluttershy was sitting up in a tree behind them. She was laughing at how they had been trying to find her for hours, while she had been tailing them for the whole time.

"Fluttershy, listen up. Y'ain't no heartless arsehole. Yer Fluttershy, th'Element of Kindness, not some insensitive..." Applejack started, but was cut off by Twilight.

"What we mean, Fluttershy, is that you are not who Logical Fallacy told you you are. You aren't mean; you're one of the most accepting, kind, and amiable ponies I know. Please don't go on thinking you're somepony you aren't." she finished.

Fluttershy looked at Twilight in a sort of mocking way, but then she had a look of realization on her face as the glow around Twilight's horn faded.

"Oh, Twilight, I'm so sorry. I really thought that he was right. Can...can you forgive me?" she asked, back to being the same Fluttershy she was before.

The others all smiled and simultaneously answered

"Of course we can!"

"Now, not too much off, just a trim more than a shave really. Have you ever wondered what it's like to listen to somepony ramble on and on, while you don't have any choice but to listen? Of course you don't, I can't imagine somepony like you in a spot like that."

Logical Fallacy had been going on like this for the entire time Rainbow Dash had been shaving him, and it seemed he had an infinite goatee. It occurred to Rainbow that he probably did, and was just using magic to regrow whatever she removed. The razor was growing blunt, and was unable to cut through the hair without substantial effort on Rainbow's part. As she lopped off another clump of hair, the alicorn finally shut up.

"Well, Dashie, is seems we have reached a critical moment in our relationship. I have one question for you: will you go the whole way?" he asked, this time actually waiting for a response.

Dash was surprised by the question. What relationship? She had only known him for a few hours, and he was her enemy. Before she outright rejected him, it occurred that that was what he wanted. He wanted her to reject him. Or maybe he wanted her to think that and accept him, and he could have another card to pull later?

_Argh, why does this have to be so confusing?_

Then it hit her.

_Say yes. He will begin to flirt, and play along. Keep the razor in hoof. When you get close enough, slit his throat. That will solve this problem..._

"Yes, yes I will." said Dash, smug look on her face. She quickly replaced it with a loving look.

"Oh, that's a pleasant surprise! Here I am, thinking I would need to go on seducing the mare who already loved me! Well, let's not delay the inevitable!" he yelled out, quite excited.

Dash slowly moved her face closer to his, and he mimicked her movements. When their faces were nearly touching, Rainbow whispered to Logical Fallacy.

"Hey Fallacy?"

"Yes Dashie?"

"Don't let your guard down."

So fast it may as well have been a bullet, Rainbow Dash thrust the razor up through the neck of the illogical alicorn. His eyes went wide in horror, but then glazed over as his life force left him. The body of the first minion of Lemminkaenen slumped to the floor, leaving a blood soaked Rainbow Dash.

"Congratulations, Miss Rainbow Dash! You have more than entertained me! You're free to go."

"What? Who are you? Where are you?"

"Oh, I am Sheogorath. Where am I? All around you. You are in my head. I am satisfied with your entertainment, you're free to go! Have fun!"

With that, Rainbow Dash felt herself being thrown around like a child's toy as she flew from the deity's mind back into reality.

"Still no sign of Rainbow Dash, Watch. I'm sorry, but it seems she has disappeared." said Rarity as she came back from another search with Applejack.

"Alright. I know she'll turn up sooner or later. Thanks for your help Rarity."

As the white unicorn left the tent, none other than Princesses Celestia and Luna walked in.

"Good news brother. We have located Ms. Dash."

"Oh really? Where?"

"Right here Watch."

Rainbow Dash stepped out from behind Celestia, much to everypony's delight.

"Have I ever got a story for you..."

After a good hour of debriefing and storytelling, the ponies all relaxed in the main tent of the guard camp, still erected outside the ruins of Ponyville.

_One down, only two more to go. We can do this, I know we can._

"Black Watch?" came a voice that he had hoped not to hear this evening.

"Yes Twilight?" he replied without looking back.

"I... I just wanted to talk about what you told me today. And how I reacted."

"Go on."

"Well, I feel really sorry for you. It must have been awful, not having friends to talk to, not even having a loving family. When I heard about what you've been through, it reminded me how lucky I am to have my friends. It reminded me that I would fight for them." Twilight began.

"Yes, you are lucky Twilight. But one thing I need to say. Not having friends made me who I am now, and I am satisfied with how I turned out. Keep that in mind before trying to change me." Watch added.

"I have no intention of changing you Watch. I came here, because there's something I need to tell you. It's sort of personal, so I'd prefer to be somewhere else. Maybe in your tent or mine?" she asked.

"Alright, we can use mine. Just be prepared, you may not like my decor." he joked.

As the two unicorns walked off into the maze of tents, Rarity and Fluttershy stood behind, watching the two.

"Do you think there's anything going on between them Rarity?" the pegasus asked.

"I can't say now, but I think Twilight's interested."

**A/N**

**Aaaaaaa, the shipping. Hated by so many, but I have forgone my previous ideas of no shipping, and added in some Twilight x OC shipping. Let me know if you want it to continue, or just end it in the next chapter.**

**Sheogorath is from Skyrim, I do not own the character.**

**I do not own anything but this fic.**

**Remember OC requests are open.**

**Until next time, R&R!**

**Quotable Quote: GARBAGE DAY! –Silent Night Deadly Night 2**

**Flyingspud **


	3. Shifting Sands of Life

**A/N: Third chapter!**

**Well, now that I have some actual feedback, I can make some changes to my story. The shipping will stay, although that is still subject to change.**

**I realise that someone might actually sue me if I don't include this, so I own NOTHING of MLP, WoW, or anything else this references. I do, however, own the characters Black Watch, Lemminkaenen, and Logical Fallacy.**

_Birds chirping. No wind. No rain. Seems like a good day._

Black Watch opened his eyes and immediately sank back after realizing he had been sleeping in a guard tent. The smell of burnt flesh hung heavy in the air. The image of Logical Fallacy lying crumpled up in a pool of his own blood brought a smile to the necromancer's face. It was a shame he couldn't have taken the soul of his pony. It would have been satisfying to know he had control of a former enemy. Rainbow Dash was smarter than he had taken her for.

_I hope the guards have gotten a mess hall up. I'm starving._

He got up and left the tent, temporarily blinded by the sunlight. He wondered how long he had slept. Blinking his eyes a few times brought the world into focus. Guards were moving casually about the compound, and a few less injured survivors were walking freely. Everypony seemed on edge, as if they were expecting another attack. The fires in Ponyville had been fully extinguished by now, leaving only the rubble of former homes and businesses. The streets were littered with scavenging animals, which were never far from a bloodbath such as this.

"Hey Watch!" the stallion heard from behind.

"Morning Dash. How are ya?" he asked her.

"Oh, fine." she looked down, as if something was pressuring her.

"Bullshit. What's the matter?"

Dash looked up, clearly disturbed.

"I... I had a dream last night. About what happened in... wherever it was that Fallacy had taken me. Something about Sheo-whatever." she looked down again, obviously uncomfortable.

"Alright Dash, I'll talk to you later about this. Try not to think about it, ok?"

She nodded and flew off, probably returning to her house. Black Watch kept going toward the command tent, where he knew the princesses would be. Entering the tent, he was met with a very embarrassed looking Celestia and a giggling Luna.

"What's so funny?" he asked eagerly.

"Tia just..." Luna began, before Celestia cut her off.

"Shut it Luna, you know I didn't mean to do that."

"Ok, what did she do? You gotta tell me, I'm your brother, even if I'm not royalty material." Watch pressed, trying to make his sisters tell him.

"Well, Tia was asking Guard Overseer Zeitacus about what she did while confused. Apparently, all I did was try to counter her spells, but she was yelling out all this stuff about how it was all my fault, and then she said a few things she'll regret." Luna was silenced again by Celestia interrupting.

"Luna, tell him, and I WILL send you back to the moon. Got it?" she said, glaring daggers at her sister.

Luna could see that this time, Celestia was not bluffing.

"Fine Tia, I won't tell him."

After a few minutes of complaining and pressing for the story, Black Watch finally gave up his efforts, he could just ask Zeitacus later.

"Alright sis, let's talk shop. What happened while I was going after the Elements?"

"It was uneventful. Lemminkaenen's minions were gone, thanks to your summoning, but I know he'll try something new. The guards were scouring Ponyville for survivors, and the dracolich was helping to carry them back here. Out medical staff were under quite a bit of stress, but they pulled through. After Ms. Dash returned from the mind of Sheogorath, Twilight sent me her friendship report, a duty I expected her to have forgotten or forgone." Celestia ended her summary rather abruptly, but Black Watch decided it would be better to just leave it.

He was dismissed from the tent and went for breakfast. Guards were just changing their posts, meaning that it was close to noon. Walking into the mess tent, he was greeted with most of the tent rising to attention.

"Relax, I'm not military or royalty. Carry on." he said, and most of the guards returned to their food.

Getting in the food line, all the guards cleared out of the way, creating a clear path to the counter.

"Get back in line; I don't want any special privileges. Again, I'm not royalty."

The guards did reform their line, and after an unpleasant wait, Black Watch finally got some food and went to find a table. Most of the off duty guards were already sitting at tables, so Watch decided to go and eat in his tent. As soon as he left, he was faced with five certain mares.

"So, what are we going to do now?" asked the group in their own ways.

"I'm not sure, but I think that you are going to rebuild your town, and I'll carry on with my life. Which means I'm going to need to start over as far as my soul bank goes." he began to think how many souls he lost by not collecting during the Battle of Ponyville.

"You know darling, it's rather morbid when you refer to it as such." Rarity pointed out.

"Can you think of a better term, Rarity?" the necromancer asked coldly.

Rarity shut up.

The ensuing conversation seemed incredibly pointless to Black Watch, why these ponies were so interested in his story was beyond him. He had never had anypony this interested in him in all his years of traveling. He answered most of the questions, consisting mostly of simple things, like where he was from, some things he had seen traveling, and about his education.

"How do you take a soul?" asked Twilight, seemingly out of nowhere. She had been very quiet during the conversation.

"Simple. I cast the soul steal spell. It channels into the other pony, and weakens the barriers that your soul erects. Once weak, I can simply trap it. That is what is happening when the ball of light goes through the spell beam. After that, I have the soul available whenever I want it."

"Can you transfer souls to another?" Twilight asked, now seeming like she was preparing a barrage of questions.

"That's sort of what I do when I take one, except it can't be used like my own." he answered.

"No, what I mean is, can a necromancer give souls that he has acquired to another necromancer?" she clarified.

"Oh, that's what you meant. No, it can't be done." he answered simply.

Twilight looked disappointed for a second, but then regained her composure.

"Alright, that's all for questions. I'm going to pack my things. Goodbye, everypony." Black Watch said, worn out from these questions.

_Damn, why do they have to be so inquisitive? It's strange, nopony else has ever wanted to know anything about me..._

**\SPACE/**

Twilight Sparkle was nearly back at the library, and was about to enter when she felt something nag at the back of her mind.

"_You should go talk to him." _said Princess Celestia.

Puzzled by the appearance of her mentor's voice, Twilight spun around. Celestia was nowhere to be found.

"Princess, where are you? What do you mean, I should talk to him? Talk to whom?"

She knew full well who Celestia was talking about. She had been feeling weird around Black Watch ever since he had opened up to her about his past.

_I wonder what this means. Every time I see him, I feel strange, every time I think about him, I feel strange._

"Princess, where are you?" Twilight asked, hoping Celestia would show herself.

"_I am sitting in the command tent on the edge of town. Yes, Twilight, I am speaking telepathically. I only have this to say. It's very obvious how you are feeling about my brother. He thought telling you his secret past would convince you to not give up, but it instead made you sympathetic towards him, which has seemingly evolved to more... _intricate_, emotions. All I have to say is this: don't fight it. He may not feel the same way, or he might be repressing it. But he needs somepony close to him, otherwise he will destroy himself." Celestia told the purple unicorn._

With that, the feeling faded from Twilight's mind.

"What? What did she mean, don't fight it? I... I... Argh, I'm so confused!"

**\SPACE/**

The next day went by without trouble. The guards were less on edge today, and that attitude reflected onto everypony. Those hurt in the attack were healing well, and many were out and about. Black Watch had dismissed his minions the previous day, leaving him more focused and energetic.

"Watch!" he heard somepony call from behind.

Turning around, he saw none other than the second minion of Lemminkaenen, a light tan pegasus by the name of Shifting Sands.

"Watch, I wasn't expecting to see you here. Perhaps we can..."

"Shut up Sands. I know what you're up to, and your mind games aren't exactly up to snuff. Get out of here." Black Watch spat.

"I just wanted to tell you that your Guard Overseer has accepted my proposal. Tomorrow, on the field north of Ponyville, at exactly 1500 hrs. Be ready, old boy." Sands retorted in his mock English accent before flying away.

_Damn, that means his army is going to slaughter us. They may be weak, but they have so many..._

Coming back to reality, Watch realized that he had been walking back to his tent. Entering, he was met by the familiar murky scent of embalming fluids, old rags that the occasional ghoul rose with, and old sweat.

_Ugh, smells like shit in here. Maybe I should clean it out sometime..._

"Black Watch?"

"Dammit, what is it now?" he screamed, getting very annoyed with ponies coming up to him from behind.

"I was just walking around, and felt like talking with you. You don't mind, do you?"

Twilight stepped in after hearing the necromancer's defeated grunt of approval. The heavy odour assaulted her nostrils, causing her to retreat out of the tent. Stifling a laugh, Black Watch followed her out.

"So what did you want to tell me Twilight? I'm very busy, and I need to recover my minions. Be quick." he said coldly.

"Well, you remember in the library a few days ago, when you told about your... past?" she questioned.

"Yes, go on."

"That left me wondering, why did you tell me that? I hardly know you, yet you tell me your dark past? Why?" she asked, her eyes showing a peculiar emotion.

"Dammit Twilight, you aren't making this easy for me. Before I answer your question, get this through your head. I'm leaving as soon as we get rid of Sands and his army. His infamous Desert Marauder legion will be here, and they are a pain in the ass to stop. But we will do it. After he's defeated, I'll be gone. Long gone. I go where my instincts or Celestia tell me to, and they're telling me to move on. Now to answer your question. I told you what I did because it was the most likely way to save you. To save you from Fallacy's influence. It worked, needless to say. That is why Twilight." Black Watch told her flatly.

"Is that all?" Twilight asked, as if egging on the black stallion, trying to get him to say something.

_What's your game, Sparkle?_

"Well, is it all?" she asked again, bringing to other unicorn out of his trance.

"Yes, Ms. Sparkle. That is all." Watch said, formally addressing her as to distance himself from the unfamiliar feelings that were growing between them.

Turning away, he left her simply watching as he walked away, trying to return to his former cold self.

**\SPACE/**

With the battle set to begin in three hours, all the guards were on edge. Not one of them had any combat experience, and they were therefore unprepared. Gordo and the dracolich wandered freely, standing ready to fight. As the ponies began eating their lunch, a loud call was heard overhead.

"LET THE GAMES BEGIN!" rang out over the compound, guards shooting to their feet and drawing weapons.

Black Watch ran out from his tent, calling his minions to him. The two undead were there in seconds, but they were already being overrun by Desert Marauders. They were very light soldiers, carrying only a dagger and wearing desert robes. The surge was relentless, and guards were quickly overwhelmed. Even the dracolich and its flames had trouble keeping them back.

The necromancer stood on the knoll where the command tent resided. It was clearly a lost cause; they needed more warriors than they had. He was about to turn and admit defeat when something caught his eye.

Marauders were flying over the battle, an unseen force tossing them aside with ease. As the unknown being came closer, the stallion could make out the form of a creature seldom found in Equestria. It was a moose.

The antlers impaled Marauders as it came closer. Once free of the melee, Black Watch could make out its appearance. A now bloodied brown coat, bloody antlers, and a sharply trimmed bell were presented to him, as well as a large tray of oddities.

"Good day sir, I am Mooselin Van Poutine, travelling merchant. Can I interest you in my wares? he asked in a voice befitting a door to door salesman.

Finally coming to his senses, Black Watch replied:

"What the hell? We're in the middle of a losing battle, and you come to try and sell us this useless crap!" he raged at the moose.

"A battle? Well I've got something to help with that! Get some volunteers, and I'll rent you some useful devices." he said as though he were pitching his product.

Bringing two guards over, the merchant continued his spiel.

"Just put these two tanks on your back, point this nozzle at your foe, and let loose! They'll never see it coming!"

Excited, the guards ran for the main line where the guards had managed to slow the advance of Marauders. As they arrived, the pack-wielding guards opened up.

Scalding liquid shot out the nozzles, dousing the Marauders. As soon as a pony contacted this liquid, they would be covered in a sort of webbing, which contracted to the point of death by compression. In a matter of minutes, the Marauders were reduced to a wriggling mass on the ground in front of them.

"Well, are you satisfied?" asked Mooselin.

"Damn boy, that stopped 'em cold!" cheered one of the guards holding a sprayer.

"Well, this isn't over yet. Start cleaning up, and prepare for the next attack. This fight's just begun." ordered the Overseer.

As the guards began the task of disposing of the cocoons, Watch turned to Mooselin.

"And I'm thinking we'll take another 15 or so of those. Put it on the Princess's tab."

**\SPACE/**

Black Watch had gone into the mess tent for a late lunch before the next attack came. Sitting down at a table in the corner, he began eating. He heard somepony enter, causing him to look up. He saw a certain mare entering the food line.

_Not now... please don't come over here..._

But she did. Twilight walked up to the table and sat down beside the necromancer.

"Why are you always trying to be alone? Don't you ever miss talking to anypony?" she asked as he snorted in irritation into his food.

"You cannot miss what you have never had. Or in my case, seldom partake in." he replied.

"Well, what's wrong with talking?" Twilight asked him, trying to start a conversation.

"If I don't need to, why bother? Anyway, most of the talking I've done in the past 5 years or so has been to undead, ponies who were almost dead, or one-liners and taunts to my enemies. I just don't talk much, ok?" he said, hoping that he could get her to leave.

"Fine. But there's nothing wrong with talking to other ponies who aren't trying to kill you, or nearly dead themselves. I mean, look at me. About a year ago, I would almost never talk to anypony unless I was reporting to them or giving instructions. Now I have several good friends that I speak with regularly. Why can't you just try giving conversation a chance?" the mare retorted light heartedly.

"Well, it seems I'm participating in one now, aren't I? Twilight, there's something you're trying to tell me. What is it?" Watch said.

"Still trying to keep it to the point, eh? Well, it's just that, since you don't seem to do much, maybe you'd like to come and hang out with my friends, or at least one of us, sometime?" Twilight offered.

"Since you aren't going to leave it alone, fine. After I kill Sands, I'll have some extra time perhaps. I'll hang out then, alright?" he said flatly, hoping that Twilight would finally leave.

"Sounds great! I'll see you later."

She left.

_Finally. Well, I guess conversation isn't too bad, but why would anypony want to have a conversation with me? I swear, by my honour. If it has anything to do with emotional attachment, I'll be gone like a bat outta Hell. _

**\SPACE/**

The next hour was very stressful to the guards standing on sentry duty. Despite Mooselin having supplied them with additional sprayers, the next battle could not be as easy as the first. It was shortly after 3 o'clock that they heard the sound of hooves approaching. Clearly, this was going to be a larger attack than before.

"Stand your ground! Do not give them an inch of turf!" shouted Zeitacus as the noise of a charging army grew rapidly.

Guards swung their weapons out, presenting the points of spears and the tips of swords.

_Surely no army will be stupid enough to charge straight into this, would they?_ thought the Overseer nervously.

As the dust cloud grew on the horizon, the next wave of Desert Marauders was becoming more and more visible.

**\SPACE/**

Black Watch scrambled to his feet at the sound of the klaxon going off, and his minions were soon to follow. His recent visit to the Ponyville hospital had rendered a few souls, but nothing much. His six new summons would be more or less sidelined for this fight, but they were there regardless. It was now or never. The fate of Ponyville was about to be decided by fire for the second time.

**\SPACE/**

Klaxons tore Twilight from thought. The shrill whine of the raid siren carried over the compound, and guards were running with spears and swords for the front line. Twilight wasn't a fool, so she turned and fled, running for the command tent. She had nearly made it when Black Watch shoved her aside as he and his six new zombies charged to the front line. The sound of the web spinners was heard over the sound of clashing blades and yelling warriors. The idea of killing made her sick.

"Twilight, is something wrong?" asked the unicorn's mentor.

"Other than the battle, Princess..." Twilight began, "...yes, there is. Black Watch seems to ignore my attempts at doing anything with him. It's like he's shut himself away into his own little world."

"Oh yes, he did that a long time ago. It was before he began his training in necromancy. He was never spoken to by anyone just seeking a conversation. That lack of interaction caused him to shut himself away." explained Luna, speaking before Celestia could cut her off.

"Well, surely somepony must have wanted to speak to him at some point."

"No Twilight. Tell me, how did you react when you found out what he is?" asked Luna, taking over for Celestia, who had now left to observe the battle unfolding outside.

"Well, I... I feared him, and then tried to stop him." Twilight immediately looked downcast, remembering how she and the other Elements had destroyed his undead army.

"Exactly. In every town he visited, there was at least one pony who felt the same way. Of course, they weren't as powerful as you, but as a collective group, the towns would try to drive him away, even after he saved them. It proved very trying for Watch, and he decided to just keep what he did a mystery." Luna continued.

Twilight thought for a few seconds, and then came to a conclusion.

"Thank you Princess, now I know how to approach this." Twilight said, a scheming grin growing on her face.

**\SPACE/**

_Damn, so many bodies... if only I could..._

Black Watch was in the midst of battle, watching as Marauders fell all around him. So many souls lost here. He knew full well that he could take them, right here, right now. It would be perfect. He would have a fighting force, and it would terrorize the Marauders to see their own troops coming back from the dead. All he had to do was cast the spell...

"No. I won't. I will not take an unwilling soul."

But as the guards continued to fall, it was wearing thin on Watch's patience. Even with all Mooselin had done for the guards, he had left already, and the web spinners weren't enough.

_Maybe just this one time then..._

The sickly green beam shot from the stallion's horn, catching four Marauders in its glow. Taking souls was easy for the necromancer. Taking four at once, now that was a challenge. Each pony put up a different struggle, and that left a mark on Watch's mind. He was accustomed to removing the souls of the willing and near dead, not alive and strong warriors.

As the fourth soul was ripped from its body, Black Watch raised the bodies. Sending them back into the grinder made him forget what he had done. Turning around, he saw even more Marauders, just waiting to be harvested.

_Don't fear the Reaper..._

**\SPACE/**

The raising of the zombies had the intended effect on the Marauders. They fled, terrified of the maniacal necromancer before them. As the last ones left the battlefield, Black Watch dismissed the zombies.

"Watch, that was some impressive work. Glad you're on our side." Overseer Zeitacus said from behind.

Black Watch turned around, facing the battlefield commander.

"Thank you sir. Have fun cleaning up."

As the necromancer stalked away, everypony who saw him knew that something had snapped within him.

**\SPACE/**

"HE WHAT?" exclaimed Celestia.

"Yes your highness. He was casting a sort of green beam that seemed to change the enemy into zombies under his control." the Overseer repeated.

Celestia's face remained calm, but in her eyes and tone one could see her building rage.

"Bring him here at once." she ordered flatly.

Zeitacus nodded and quickly left the tent, getting a few guards to come along with him. This wouldn't be easy to convince the unstable necromancer.

**\SPACE/**

_Alright, that's everything. I'm outta here. Things are getting too crazy_.

Black Watch was about to leave when he heard his name yet again.

"Black Watch? Princess Celestia has requested your presence."

Zeitacus.

_I wonder what this is about. Probably nothing..._

_No it's something. Remember what we did in battle?_

_What? Who're you?_

The voice was unknown. He couldn't tell what it was. Was he going insane?

"Watch? Are you going to follow us? Or do we need to drag you there?" asked another guard, for the third or fourth time.

_Kill him._

_No. _

_You know how easy it is. Just cast the spell, surely he won't be too hard to break._

_I won't._

_Oh I think you will._

As the voice went away again, Black Watch felt a desire growing inside him. A desire to kill, a desire for blood.

This hunger needed to be satisfied.

It was all so clear in his memory. The guard's confusion turned fear. The sickly green glow. The screams of pain. His pleas for mercy. The ghostly silence that followed the breaking of his mind. As the soul was absorbed, Black Watch still didn't feel any better. No, he was ready for more.

_What's going on? This isn't who I am, this isn't the real me!_

But regardless, he turned on the next two guards and repeated the process. It was effortless. Guards looked tough, but they were weak. He needed somepony tougher. One who could take a little playing before breaking. Somepony like...

Twilight Sparkle.

**\SPACE/**

_What's taking Zeitacus so long?_

Celestia was pacing back and forth around her desk, leaving a track in the floor. She was about to go out and look for him herself when the Overseer burst in, looking quite shaken.

"Your highness, Black Watch has gone berserk! He killed three of my troops, and I heard him mumbling about needing a greater challenge." explained the guard, obviously panicking.

Celestia dipped her head in disbelief. This was why she banned necromancy. Once the power gets to your head, there's next to nothing that can be done about it. Death is usually the only solution.

"Bring him to me. NOW." stated the sun princess clearly.

The Overseer gave a quick salute and left.

_I hope we aren't too late to save him._

**\SPACE/**

Black Watch entered the library, hoping to find her. He was not disappointed.

"Oh, hello Black Watch. Is there something I can do for you?" Twilight asked, perking up at the sight of the necromancer.

"Yes Twilight. Yes there is." was the only reply she got. The wide grin on the stallion's face was unnerving to Twilight.

The sickly green glow appeared around his horn, growing in proportion to her fear. Once it had reached a certain level, the beam shot forth, hitting the mare head on. She was flung back into the wall, collapsing in a pile of books.

Poking around in a pony's mind is easy. Any foal can do that. To break the mental barriers, that's where the skill comes into play. A necromancer such as Black Watch could have been done with Twilight in a minute. But today, he felt like toying with his prey a little. He left her conscious, and in return, she could communicate with him through thought. Forget heartfelt discussion, looking at one's memories was the way to go about getting to know someone.

_Hmm, childhood memories, how nice. A nice family in Canterlot, a few friends, oh look, here's getting accepted into Celestia's school. It seems you were rather pleased with that, eh Twilight? I'm afraid I'll need to skip up a bit, but it's just your life's rather dull. So this is how you came to Ponyville? Fascinating. Oh wait, is that... haha, what a laugh. I never thought anypony could dance __that__ badly._

This monologue carried on as he looked through all of Twilight's memories, making sure to replay anything embarrassing.

_What are you doing? Are you even sane?" _asked Twilight.

_Oh, I assure you I'm quite insane. Batshit insane, one might say. Guess what? I'm just getting warmed up. Now do me a favour and... What's this?_

The madman stopped. Evidently one of Twilight's memories caught his attention. She could feel his conscience slipping out of her mind, almost as if he were backing away from something in disbelief.

Twilight's eyes opened to reveal the necromancer, sitting back on his haunches, thousand mile stare plastered on his face.

It took a little time, but Twilight managed to get him to speak.

"I'm sorry Twilight. I hope you never need to witness anything like that again. What you saw was a common problem for necromancers in the past. Once one has willingly torn a soul from a body, it leaves a mark on their mind. Do it too many times too quickly, like I did, and it twists you. Death is usually the only solution to this type of madness. -

**A/N cheese alert**

-But there is another solution. If one can express sufficient true emotion, then it is possible to save the mind. It sounds cheesy, but it's true. Twilight, now I can see why you don't just leave me alone. Now, just one thing." he concluded.

What he did next surprised her. Black Watch leaned close, and kissed her forehead. As he drew back, Twilight saw his repaired soul reflected in his eyes.

"Thank you Twilight." he said, now relaxing.

Twilight was about to respond when...

CRASH

Both ponies snapped their heads around to see what caused the noise. None other than Mooselin van Poutine was lying on Twilight's floor, having come flying in through the window.

"Oh hi there! Lovely day isn't it?" the moose greeted.

"What the hell? Why'd you come flying in through the window, instead of the damn door?" asked Black Watch.

"Oh, there's another battle going on. Those Marauders are about to break, no doubt about that. You should really pay more attention, you know."

Black Watch facehoofed as the shouts of guards and Marauders met his ears.

"Twilight, we'll talk later, ok?"

Twilight just nodded, still shocked at the sudden appearance of Mooselin. The stallion turned away, his horn glowing black as zombies climbed out of the ground.

**\SPACE/**

This fight seemed to be a total rout of the Marauders. The zombies and spinners combined completely and utterly destroyed their will to fight.

"We've got them on the run, keep fighting!" ordered Overseer Zeitacus.

He was glad that Black Watch was back with them. He made a mental note to ask him about it later. He still didn't know why he snapped, but regardless, he had. It wouldn't be easy to replace those guards, seeing as almost every guard was here already.

"OVERSEER! I challenge you to single combat!" echoed over the din of battle.

Shifting Sands descended on the field, standing face to face with the guard. Zeitacus tried to raise his blade to accept the challenge, but as he did, a sharp pain hit his chest. Looking down, he saw a small blade sticking in between the plates of his armour. The world faded around him, as he uttered the words

"You bastard."

**\SPACE/**

Black Watch heard the cries of panic to his left. He called his minions to him as he began to run off into the fray. Zombies made good shields, not doing so much as flinch at pain. As a spear formation, they practically wedged themselves through the ranks of Marauders.

Mooselin wasn't bad in a fight either. For an oblivious salesman, he was more than capable of holding his own in battle. His size was quite an asset. Standing a full head taller than all the ponies, he effortlessly charged through the chaos.

"What do you figure the panic's about?" asked the moose, again oblivious to his surroundings.

"It's probably a broken line. We should make haste. You wouldn't happen to have a speed potion, would you?" replied the necromancer.

"No, I'm afraid I don't." answered Mooselin.

"Aw, Mooselin. I am disappoint-" That was all he got out before taking a sudden hit to the side.

"Well well well, look at what we have here. A depressed introvert and an oblivious merchant. I'm sooo scared." taunted the all too familiar voice.

"Sands..." Black Watch was already pissed at the cocky warrior. His natural annoyance soon grew into a full rage when he saw the stolen badge that he wore on his chest. It was the badge of Overseer Zeitacus.

_Do it_

"Well Sands, I guess we'll see who the superior warrior is. I challenge you to a one-on-one fight. Then we'll see who's the better." chided the necromancer.

"I accept your challenge. Raise your weapon."

Black Watch himself did not carry a blade, so Mooselin had to give him a small knife before drawing a weapon of his own. A long quarter staff with four letters engraved on the head. Mooselin turned to Watch, surprisingly not oblivious to the battle now.

"I'll keep the Marauders off of you. Good luck." the moose said, hefting the staff high above him.

The cry of "GTFO" roared over the battlefield, and to everypony's surprise, Mooselin, as well as all the Marauders within 40 metres of him, simply vanished, having been thrown to random places in the world. Ah yes, the Staff of GTFO. It sends anyone in its effective radius to some random place in the world, what a wonderful device. Too bad it also affects the user...

As Black Watch's blade hovered in front of his face, he saw Sands raising his own blade, a large scimitar. But strapped to his hoof was another weapon, a small dagger. It shot forward, striking Watch in the chest. Fortunately, Sand's aim was off, and the knife didn't pierce through anything important. He would bleed out eventually, but no time soon.

"Ouch." was Black Watch's brilliant comment.

The look on Sand's face was priceless. He was practically mortified that it didn't seem to hurt the necromancer in the slightest.

"Now it's my turn."

Sand's face contorted in confusion as Watch did nothing. Then the sound of something heavy came from behind, causing him to turn around. The scream of terror justified the pain in Watch's chest.

The abomination was already in mid swing when Sands took notice of it. The cleaver came down hard, leaving Sands in two halves.

Seeing that calmed Black Watch, but now his adrenaline rush was over. The full force of the pain now hit him, and needless to say, it hurt. He fell to the ground, wanting to pull it out. Too bad Mooselin was gone.

_Damn, he just had to use the Staff of GTFO_

In the distance, Watch could hear the sounds of battle dying down, and he assumed it was the Marauders surrendering to the guards. Shame he may not live to see their victory.

"WATCH! WHAT HAPPENED?" it was Rainbow Dash.

The cyan mare dropped down next to the wounded stallion. She was clearly spooked by the sight of blood and the knife.

"Rainbow... Get to a doctor, get them here right the hell now." he ordered through gritted teeth, stuttering from pain.

Rainbow Dash did not move. Instead, she came closer, and began to tug at the knife.

"Wha... Rainbow, don't take it out! Get a doc... AUUGH!" he shouted in pain as the knife came free.

Rainbow Dash wore a haunted look on her face. The bloody knife glistened in the sinking daylight. Her eyes were deep with pain, a pain that Black Watch recognized. It was the pain you get from the first time you kill.

"Drop the knife Dash. You don't need to kill me." he began.

Luckily for him, he didn't need to continue. Rainbow Dash spat out the knife as if someone had smacked her on the back of the head. In fact, someone had.

Twilight stood behind Dash, a large piece of scrap wood hovering beside her.

"Watch, what happened?" said Twilight, sounding distant.

That was all he heard before he fell into blackness.

**\SPACE/**

"Look Twahlight, he's comin' around."

"That's what you said three hours ago."

"Well, he is this time. Can't you see it darling?"

"Anyway, the doctor says he is, and I think the doctor knows what he's talking about."

Black Watch could hear the voices of Twilight and her friends speaking back and forth, arguing whether or not he was conscious. Except for one.

"I'm awake." said the bedridden pony.

All the others jumped back in surprise.

"What? Is something wrong?"

Yes. There was. Rather than his gravelly, dark voice that he had developed over years of minimal speech, he now spoke in the voice he had before his training began. It was a lot clearer, but otherwise the same.

"Why the hell is my voice different?"

"Well, I credit it to the knife. It hit a few of your vocal chords, if barely, but that seems to have been enough to clear you voice." the doctor said, having entered in time to hear the question. "Anyway, you'll be released from the hospital in a week." he left.

The other six ponies were now in an awkward silence. It only lasted a few seconds, but those few seconds felt like an eternity.

"Well, Ah've gotta git back t' my applebuckin'. See ya'll later." Applejack left.

"I have to make sure Sweetie Belle and her friends are still alright. I left them alone at the boutique." Rarity left.

"I'm sure the animals are getting hungry. I should go feed them." Fluttershy left.

"I would stay, but I think that the Cakes want me to babysit the foals while they help take down the tents outside Ponyville." Pinkie left.

That left only Twilight and Black Watch. The awkwardness remained, but it was substantially reduced.

"So, anything you want to talk about?" asked Black Watch, trying to break the tension.

"Well, about what happened with Rainbow. Why was she trying to kill you?" asked Twilight, approaching the bed.

"I think it's because of her experience with Logical Fallacy. She won't always be like that, but if the right trigger comes along, she will snap. It would be best to keep her away from any fighting or blood." explained Watch.

"You think so?"

"Yeah. Anything else on your mind?"

"Yes. About what happened in the library. Are you sure that you won't so that again?"

"I'll say yes, but that's being generous. It's possible Twilight. It's madness caused by power. If I trigger it again, it will happen. I'll do my best to not trigger it. Just two things: don't let me take a soul without the donor's consent, and if I do, I need you to promise me something." he said, pausing for Twilight to confirm his instruction.

"What is it?"

"If I fall back into that state of madness, I need you to kill me. Understood?"

"But, I saved you from it once, why can't I do it again?"

"That was because I didn't expect what I saw. If I were to do it again, I would just keep going. Promise that you will do what I just asked."

Twilight seemed to think hard about the request. After giving it substantial thought, she reluctantly answered:

"I promise."

They continued to have a more light hearted conversation for a few hours, talking late into the afternoon.

"Excuse me, visiting hours are now over. I'm going to have to ask you to leave, Miss Sparkle." Nurse Redheart said.

"Alright. I'll see you tomorrow then Watch?" she asked, turning to him.

"Sounds good."

Twilight rose to leave, hesitated, and then turned around and kissed Black Watch on the cheek. Smiling slightly, Twilight turned around and left.

_Hmm. So I guess she really does love me. I think I'm going to like this._

**A/N: There you have it, the third chapter.**

**Yes there was more cheese. Hard to avoid with Mooselin.**

**In this chapter I reference one famous book. If you can name it, you win a cookie.**

**To complete the previously stated list of characters I own,**

**Shifting Sands**

**Mooselin Van Poutine**

**Zeitacus**

**Thanks to my one of my friends for the items Mooselin sold or used. (Staff of GTFO and web spinners)**

**To the reviewers:**

**RaeLuva145: Don't worry, Twilight will be getting badass pretty soon.**

**Also, I'm planning on launching a side series with one of the characters I introduced here. The options are Mooselin, Zeitacus, or the early life of Black Watch. Let me know which one I should try.**

**-Flyingspud**


	4. Assassins, Sparks, Culstists Oh My!

**A/N: Super speed update! About one week since my last update, that's a new record. Don't expect it again; I'm probably going to be thrown back onto my one chapter-per-month schedule.**

**To those who sent in OCs, thanks, it actually let me fill some large gaps in the plot. Not that kind of plot, get your mind out of the goddamn gutter.**

**Without further ado, MLP belongs to Hasbro, WoW belongs to Blizzard Entertainment, and Dungeons and Dragons belongs to Wizards of the Coast. The OCs belong to me.**

**\SPACE/**

_Uuuugh, so bored..._

Life in the hospital was mind numbing. Black Watch was confined to his bed, which left him with very little to do. His day consisted of being brought his breakfast, followed by a four hour wait for visiting hours. Then either Rainbow Dash or Twilight would arrive. If Rainbow Dash showed up, they spent most of the afternoon in a sort of therapy for Dash. They definitely didn't want a repeat of what had happened on the battlefield. They did have an actual therapist come in, but at Dash's request Black Watch was included in their sessions. He still wasn't sure why, probably because he had promised to talk about her experience at some point. If Twilight showed up, then they got to know each other better, and Twilight started bringing in books for him to read. Mostly things that he had never seen nor heard of, but he found himself enjoying the _Ponycraft_ series.

But today, neither one showed up. Instead, it was somepony else. Princess Luna.

"Good afternoon Watch. I trust they're treating you well?" she said.

"Meh, nothing special. Can't wait to get out though. It sucks being stuck in bed all day." he said lazily.

"Well, I have important news from Tia. You are aware that Overseer Zeitacus has been slain, correct?"

"I'm aware, yes. What are you telling me?"

"Well, we need somepony to replace him. We have it narrowed down to two ponies. Yourself, and Taskmaster Shining Armour."

"Give him the spot. I don't want to go into any of this administrative bullshit."

'Well, here's the problem. He is getting married soon, and the new promotion would take him away from planning the ceremony. I'm sorry to dump this on you, but you're the only one who we think is qualified for the spot. You've been promoted, Black Watch."

"But I'm not a guard! Why are giving the position to me?" complained Watch.

"You may not be a guard, but you did hold the honorary rank of Taskmaster. Why else do you think the guards rise to attention upon your arrival?"

He remained silent.

"At the request of several mayors, we granted you the honorary rank. But now, you are the only one who is capable of taking on the position. At least until Shining Armour is ready."

"For the last time, I don't want the damn promotion!"

"Well, you're getting it anyway. Good day, Overseer." Luna emphasized the title as she left.

_Dammit, I hate administrative stuff. Why not drop it on somepony else?_

**\SPACE/**

"Mail delivery!"

Another day, another delivery. Derpy Hooves came in, giving ponies their letters and packages. Watch didn't care, he never got anything. He didn't need any mail, considering all his friends and family were able to visit whenever they wanted. But today was different.

"Black Watch? I have a letter for you. It didn't say who it was from, just that it was meant for your eyes only. I didn't read it, I swear." the mailmare said.

Watch turned over slowly, levitating the letter out of her hooves.

"Thanks Derpy."

She left, and Watch examined the envelope hovering in front of his face. He never got mail, why today? The letter was closed with a sort of fancy seal, one that he swore he had seen before somewhere. The seal was a bloody red, and was marked with a large crest of some organisation he had seen before. It wasn't the Dark Order; they used a black-green seal with a skull crest. The Royal Crest was bright red and had the coat-of-arms of Equestria on it. This bore crossed knives on a smoky background.

_I'll read this later, once I find out whose crest this is_.

"Hey Watch, how are you today?" Twilight's voice rang out in his hospital room.

He glanced at the clock next to him and quickly hid the envelope.

"Good afternoon Twilight. I feel fine, and I'm free tomorrow. It's going to be good to get out of bed for once."

"I'll bet. I saw Derpy leaving as I came in. Get any mail?"

"Actually, I finally did. I got a question about it though." he said, deciding it would be fine if Twilight saw it.

"What's wrong?"

"It's sealed with a crest I can't identify. Have you ever seen this one before?" he showed her the envelope.

Twilight stared hard at the crest, as if trying to interrogate it for information. After about thirty seconds, she looked away, puzzled.

"No, I can't tell what it is. I feel like I've seen it before though. I'll look it up tonight, and tell you tomorrow morning. How's that sound?"

"Great. Until then, I think I'll leave it shut. Anything interesting happen lately?"

Twilight began telling him about recent events, he scoffed mentally at the events that Twilight considered newsworthy. Things like light gossip rather than news. Ask him about a usual day in his life, and that was a story. The kinds of things that make the news. But Twilight already heard his stories.

"So that's how Spike actually got Pinkie to make Fluttershy scream at her to go away. Nothing too exciting, but I have to say, it was funny. I'm guessing that aside from the letter, nothing has happened here?" she finally finished.

"Well, not much. The guy next to me got out, the guy over there is in for the long haul, and I got promoted to Overseer." he said casually.

"What? I didn't know you were a Royal Guard!" Twilight said cheerily. "Congratulations, almost any guard would want to be the Overseer."

"Not me. I'm not actually a guard, Twi. I was an honorary Taskmaster, but in the wake of Zeitacus' death, I was promoted. It would be Taskmaster Shining Armour, but..."

"Shining Armour? He's my brother! You actually beat him in the race for Overseer? The princesses must really think you're good, Shining's one of the best guards in service according to Celestia."

"Your brother, eh? Well, he can have my spot if he wants it. I certainly don't. I don't do things for the recognition, for the titles, for the fame. I do it because somepony has to, and I'm more than qualified."

The conversation carried on well into the afternoon, until visiting hours ended at four. Twilight left, determined to find out what that crest meant by morning.

_She better not stay up all night looking for it. Wouldn't want a repeat of the time travel incident_.

**\SPACE/**

It was pouring rain, creating a thick mist. It was impossible to see more than six feet ahead. Black Watch trudged through the mud, feeling it adhere to his hooves and legs. It was a grueling trek, but he finally made it to his destination. Thoroughly soaked, he entered the temple to which he was sent. The reports from New Yoke were consistent. Strange noises, sickly light, and an awful smell all sat around this structure. It was his job to investigate it.

As a squad of zombies burst from the ground around his feet, Watch turned to face them. They fell into a loose formation, with one stepping forward.

"What do you ask of us, master?" it spoke in a raspy voice.

"Stay close to me. Attack anything that attacks you. Do not go more than forty feet away from me. Order three supersedes order two. Understood?"

"Yes, my lord."

As the party walked into the temple, the first thing to confront them was a trio of dark robed ponies, two mares and a stallion. All of them were earth ponies.

"What are you doing here? This is no place for wanderers, you foal!"

"I am here from New Yoke to investigate this temple. Perhaps you would be willing to give me and my company a complementary tour?"

"Of course not! We are not a museum. Seize him! He looks like he would fit into our construct quite nicely." the stallion ordered. The two mares stepped forward.

"Attack." Black Watch uttered under his breath.

As his zombies stepped out of the shadows, the other three ponies realized what they were. The usual fear danced across their faces, and one of the mares ran towards the exit of the temple. The other cautiously continued to the necromancer and his minions, despite the dangers.

Once they were in melee range, the zombies lashed out with a staggering kick to the chest, followed up immediately by a strong kick to the head. The first assailant was dead, but one still stood. The stallion attempted to attack the zombies, but to no avail. They were too strong and too many, quickly overwhelming him.

With all three disposed of, Black Watch continued his exploration of the temple. He eventually found his way into a large round chamber. It was dimly lit by five torches in wall sockets. What really caught his eye were the engravings on the wall. It was a temple to a long forgotten god, one who apparently revered death and killing. But the engravings grew stranger the further he went. He watched as the carvings showed the killing of a village, and the harvest of the bodies. The organs and fluids were drained, but the bodies were kept whole. The next wall showed the carving of bodies, but it was the last wall that caught his attention.

The carvings were putting the carved bodies together, as if to create something. What they were creating, he couldn't tell. Whatever it was, it was big. Very big.

He was about to turn and leave, seeing as he had reached a dead end here, when several other ponies entered the room. Watch's zombies stepped in between the new cultists and their master. As soon as they were in their defensive positions, the cultists lunged at the wall of undead. The zombies were thrown away as if they weren't even there. No sooner had the battle begun that it had ended. Watch dismissed his minions, regretting not having brought a blade with him. He began to draw upon his magic to create a defensive ward, but to no avail. Something was jamming his casting.

The cultists retreated, as if being commanded by some other entity. Surely enough, they were. Another pony entered the chamber, with the cultists shrinking in his presence. He was tall, taller than most ponies Watch had met. The demented orange stallion stepped into the light of a torch, revealing a heavily scarred face and a missing eye. His wings were silhouetted against his body in the flickering torchlight.

"So lad, I trust you've never seen the power of Vecna, have you?" he said. His voice was hollow, as if something were speaking through him.

"Vecna? I've never heard that name. Now who're you?" Watch replied.

"Who I am is not important. Who Vecna is, that is everything to you now. I may as well tell you before your... conversion, as it were. Vecna is the god of secrets, and his teachings are a reason I cannot tell you who I am. He loves undeath, and I am on my second opportunity to please him. Do you know why I lack my left eye, necromancer?"

Black Watch shook his head, but remained silent.

"When Vecna ascended to godhood, he left behind two parts of himself, his left forehoof and his left eye. I had the Eye inserted, but I was unable to please my lord. He moved on, and I am now a reanimated ghost of my former self. Not literally a ghost, but still. I now bear the Hoof of Vecna, and I will not displease my god again. Now be a good pony and give yourself up quietly." he said, finishing his speech.

"I will not surrender to you." Watch said flatly.

"What a shame."

The other cultists closed in, and due to the dampers on his magic, Black Watch was unable to defend himself. He was grabbed by several ponies, all with grips too strong to break. Blackness surrounded him as he was knocked unconscious.

**\SPACE/**

"Watch? Watch, it's time for you to go. The doctor just signed your release papers."

Nurse Redheart woke the sleeping stallion, trying to hurry him out of the bed.

"I'm up, I'm up. Thanks nurse."

It took a few minutes to actually get him up; his limbs had fallen asleep after a week and a half of not moving them. For the first time, he got a good look at the stitches across his chest. A long scar was to the left and above his heart.

_Kick. Ass_.

As the necromancer left the hospital, he saw exactly what he wanted to. Twilight was waiting for him, but she had a slightly worried expression on her face. Ok, so not _exactly_, but close enough.

"Morning Twi, what's up?" he asked curiously. "Is it about the letter?"

Twilight just nodded before she spun her head around quickly, as if searching for something.

"I found out whose crest it is, but we need to get out of here fast. I think you might be in danger." she said, fear prominent on her voice.

Black Watch just nodded, and followed Twilight quickly back to the library. As they entered, Watch saw that Spike was quick to lock the door with far too many locks than necessary for Ponyville. Detrot maybe, but not Ponyville of all places.

"So what's the gimmick Twi? Why all the extra security?" he asked, starting to feel uneasy.

"Well, it took me a few hours, but I finally found the crest on the letter. It's the crest of the Cavalier Assassins. They're..."

"-an elite organisation of assassins, renowned for their abilities to go completely unnoticed. I know. I've dealt with them before." he finished Twilight's sentence, shuddering at the memories of his previous encounter.

"Well, I'm worried that now they're after you. But why send a letter about it?"

"Well, we haven't read it, have we? Let's plan after I read it, ok?" he said.

Twilight facehoofed as she realized that she had jumped to conclusions yet again. At least this one wasn't as serious as the first time. She hoped, anyway.

Opening the seal released a fine powder into the air, causing Black Watch to jump back and drop the envelope. Twilight cast a purification spell on it and the air around where he'd opened it, and nodded to him to show it was safe again. As the letter came free of the envelope, nothing special happened. Watch unfolded the paper carefully, until he was finally able to read it.

_To Hon. Taskmaster Black Watch_

_This probably caused quite a fright when you identified our crest. Do not worry; you are not on our hit list. Rather, you are on the list of those in need of assistance. We are sending one of our best agents to aid you in your mission._

_Sorry for any scares this may have caused,_

_Cavalier Assassins_

After he finished reading the letter, Black Watch smiled. If they were sending somepony from their ranks, it meant that this was a serious cause.

"What did it say?" asked Twilight, still concerned.

"Read it for yourself." Watch said, hovering it over to her.

After Twilight read the letter, her face lit up.

"This is great! We're going to have the help of elite assassins for defeating this guy!" she said, now getting excited.

_This means that more action is on the way. Let's hope Rainbow keeps her distance._

**\SPACE/**

Rainbow Dash was returning from her most recent therapy session. She felt as though she had made real progress. Before, she was terrified at the sight of blood or gore, now she could see it without being scared. It was still hard for her if there was a weapon nearby, or if it was someone close, but she was improving.

_I should find Watch. I want to thank him for his support... Now where is he?_

A loud crack echoed across Ponyville. Rainbow spun her head around, looking for the source of the noise. It wasn't a Sonic Rainboom, only she could do that. Sure enough, there was no rainbow trail in the sky, but there was something streaking along.

Deciding that it wasn't going to set her off, Rainbow Dash took off after it. Whatever it was, it was going very fast, and the mare could feel the air bending around her as her speed increased. If he continued to accelerate, she would perform a Sonic Rainboom.

But she couldn't maintain it. The air bubble around her burst, and the sudden increase in drag threw her back uncontrollably. As she plummeted to the ground, she saw what appeared to be a pegasus flying toward her.

Another crack rang out as this other pony accelerated towards Dash. She looked down, and saw the ground rushing up to meet her. She frantically tried to regain control, but to no avail. It was ten seconds to impact. Five. Four. Three. Two. One.

But she never hit the ground. Rather, she had been caught by the other pegasus. As they returned to the ground, Rainbow found herself able to speak.

"Thanks, you saved me. What's your name?" she asked, standing on wobbly knees.

"I'm Sonic Boom. You are...?" he answered.

"Rainbow Dash. I've never seen you around here before, where're you from?"

"Born in Cloudsdale. I didn't really fit in too well, so I left. I came out to live over the forest about five clicks south of here, with my pet, Gilbird."

"Cool. So, why'd you leave Cloudsdale anyway? Why didn't you fit in?"

When he didn't reply, she knew she'd hit a touchy subject.

"Ooo..kay. I'll be going now. Thanks again for saving me, and I'll see you around."

"Sure. Bye Rainbow Dash."

As the two flew their separate ways, Rainbow started thinking.

_He's kind of strange. Ah well, not my problem._

**\SPACE/**

"So where do you think this agent is going to be? He only said that he was coming to Ponyville, but I think he's..."

"Enough Twi. You're starting to sound like Pinkie."

Twilight blushed and shut up. The two had been wandering around Ponyville for the better part of the morning looking for this assassin. They were about to call off the search and let him find them when they heard something behind them.

"Looking for somepony?"

The pair spun around, and found themselves face to hooded face with a light grey pegasus stallion. He wore thick leather on his back, and had a hooded cloak to cover his face. He had a sash around his neck and chest holding an assortment of blades and vials. His cutie mark was a wisp of smoke.

"My name is Blade. I'm here for the Cavalier Assassins Guild. I trust you are Black Watch, no?" he said.

"Yeah, that's me. I got the letter, but I ask this anyway to everyone. What do you want?"

"I'm here to assist you. Where can I get settled in?"

"I can set up a guest room for you back at the library." said Twilight, stepping in to the conversation.

"Sounds good. You are..?"

"Twilight Sparkle. Nice to meet you." she stuck out her hoof to shake his.

"Sorry Twilight, paranoia dictates that I cannot shake hooves with anypony. I just don't trust anyone except the one who I'm assigned to protect or aid." he said.

"Oh. Well, I'll get your room set up. See you later Watch." she said as she trotted off to the library.

Once she was out of view, the two stallions carried on their conversation.

"Friend of yours?" asked Blade, not knowing who anyone was.

"You could say that."

"I swear I've seen her before somewhere. I think... Canterlot! That's it! I was tasked with killing some motherbucker from Manehattan who wanted to kill the princesses. I had to spend three hours sitting in a large bush in the throne room waiting for him to reveal himself, so I entertained myself with those large stained glass windows. She's one of the Elements of Harmony, isn't she?"

"Yeah. Element of Magic. Anything else newsworthy?" Watch said, trying to move the conversation back to business.

"Well, I have a report on the position of Lemminkaenen. He is currently forty five clicks to the southeast of Ponyville, and he seems to be spending a lot of time working with large summoning rifts. Our mole was unable to get anything else back to us, seeing as he was boiled out by lava. Why the hell he'd dig his way into a volcano is beyond me. Lemminkaenen is obviously trying something big." Blade reported.

"No shit. Anything about Astral Spark, his third lieutenant?"

"Nothing. We suspect he's going to be elsewhere, but certainly not Ponyville. Too obvious, and it would let you prepare for an attack."

"Right. Let's head home. I'm sure you're hungry."

"Damn right."

**\SPACE/**

Blackness surrounded the stallion as the scent of embalming fluid assailed his nose. His eyes snapped open, and the room revealed itself to him. It was considerably smaller, and he was in a sort of cage. In the center was an altar, caked in dried and fresh blood. A mare was standing over the mess, and the sounds of weeping were coming from her. She had a bright yellow coat, but it was now heavily stained by blood. Her brass mane was hanging limply to the left of her head, and overall she appeared a shadow of her former self.

"Hey! Let me out of here!" Black Watch cried out.

The mare spun around, tear soaked eyes a bright red, overpowering her deep blue pupils. She looked as though she had been tortured to great lengths.

"They are coming back. Don't let them get me! Please, don't let them! PLEASE, I'M BEGGING YOU!" she began to scream, not seeming to notice that he was still imprisoned.

"I'll help you, just calm down and let me out!" Black Watch was trying to calm her down, but at the sound of his voice, a gravelly tone, she jumped back in fright.

"NO! They got you too! That means I'm next... AVANDRA, WHAT DID I DO TO DESERVE THIS!" she yelled out, holding her hooves to the ceiling.

Apparently, she was making way too much noise and several cultists came in. They grabbed the mare and began to beat her against the altar. Blood began to pour out from her forehead, and she was clearly out cold. That didn't stop them. They continued to beat the most likely now dead horse. They only stopped when another pony came in. It was the same stallion from earlier, the one claiming to bear the Hoof of Vecna.

"Now that's enough. I'm sure she's quite dead. She sure was a fighter, though, don't you agree, Black Watch?" he said, looking at the caged necromancer.

"I wouldn't know. I was out for most of the time, if you haven't realized."

"Oh yes. Well, that's certainly a shame. Maybe now you'll learn that guests are not supposed to fall asleep."

As he said that, a few of the cultists stepped up to the cage. The unlocked the door, and released Watch from his bonds. He struggled, but was quickly smashed against the back of the cage, knocking him out cold again.

_Seriously?_

**\SPACE/**

"Watch, hey Watch! Wake up, Pinkie's here, and she's crying. Loudly."

Black Watch stirred again. That dream kept continuing every time he slept. Hopefully it wouldn't continue next time. The next thing he noticed was a very loud crying from the next room. How it didn't wake him up was beyond most ponies. He walked into the main room of the library.

He saw Blade was sitting on top of one of the shelves and watching outside through a window as though he was expecting something. Twilight was standing next to Pinkie wearing rain gear, and Spike was trying to mop up the tears that Pinkie was putting out like fire hoses. Through her sobs, he managed to pick up the gist of it.

"He... He... He took him... He took Gummi!" Pinkie sobbed out.

"Gummi?" Watch said questioningly, raising an eyebrow at Twilight.

"Her pet alligator." replied Twilight.

Black Watch mentally facehoofed at this.

"Her pet? That's what's got her so worked up? Sorry Twilight, social interaction's your field."

"Well, she did say that it was some pony with two horns."

"Two?" Watch and Blade said at the same time.

"That's right, two. He used some kind of spell that carried Gummi out of Sugarcube Corner through the roof."

Of course, a town cannot be rebuilt in such a short span of time. Most of the rubble had been cleared, but many buildings were still under repairs. Sugarcube Corner was one. Earth elementals had heavily damaged the building in the first attack, so naturally they had to fix the roof.

Pinkie seemed to have calmed down a great deal by this point, despite having been crying buckets only five seconds before.

"Pinkie, you're sure that this pony had two horns? It wasn't just an illusion created by darkness or something?" Blade asked.

"I'm... I'm sure. Two horns." she said, voice shaky.

"Well, that confirms it. The bastard's here. Astral Spark." said Watch, looking over at Blade.

"Now we just need to find out what he wants with Pinkie's pet."

**\SPACE/**

Rainbow was soaring over the trees to the south of Ponyville. She wasn't sure why, but she was determined to find out what was up with Sonic Boom. There was just some curiosity she had about his anti-social behaviour. It was similar to Black Watch, but with something different.

It only took an hour to find him. He was flying high above the clouds, almost higher than Cloudsdale's highest point. Rainbow Dash twisted around and started flying towards him. The grey stallion was headed in a westerly direction, and was definitely going very fast.

She finally managed to catch up to him, and flag him down. Gilbird seemed to lead Sonic back to the ground. On landing, he removed the earmuffs he wore, presumably due to the altitude.

"Hey there Sonic. Just wondering if maybe you'd like to hang out for a while." Dash said.

"Well, I... uh..." he seemed to be trying to think of something.

"Hello, anypony there?" Dash said mockingly, reaching out with her hoof to push aside his mane and look him in the eye.

Was she ever surprised. Instead of the usual bright colours of a pony's eyes, Sonic Boom's were glazed over, as if someone had spread a thin layer of superglue over them.

"Hey, what's with your eyes?" Rainbow asked curiously.

"My eyes? Wait, what! You saw my eyes!" he seemed to shrink back, as if his ego had been shattered.

"What's the problem? Are they the reason you left Cloudsdale?" she asked, still confused by his reaction.

"Yes and no Rainbow. It's my eyes, and my lack thereof. You can see how they're glazed over? Well, that's because I'm blind. Completely blind. I can't see a thing; I never have been able to. Other foals made fun of me for that, which is half the reason I left my home for here. The other reason is so I don't hit anything. Gilbird here is more than my pet, he's my eyes." he stopped, still looking as though his life had just been ruined.

"Oh, well, if it helps, I'm sorry. I had no idea." Rainbow said, trying to repair the done damage.

"That's the plan. Nopony finds out. They always patronize me; make me feel like I can't do anything for myself. Well, I can kick anypony's flank from here to Canterlot and back!" he said, a new flame igniting.

**Watch out, we've got a badass over here**.

Dash stared at him for a few seconds, and fell back laughing. Sonic Boom turned his head toward the source of the noise.

"What? You think this is funny?" he asked aggressively.

Dash just continued to laugh. She didn't know why, she just did.

"You know what Rainbow. I'll prove that I am just as good as I say. I'll race you. Here to the edge of the forest and back. Accept my challenge?"

Rainbow pulled herself together.

"Race? You're on! Just don't expect me to go easy on ya though." she said cockily.

"Good. On my mark. Three. Two. One. GO!" he yelled as he shot off towards Ponyville, Gilbird mounted on his head.

As Dash took off after him, the thrill of the flight took over. Both ponies were flying as fast as they could over the trees, wind blowing through their manes. This is what they lived on. The thrill of speed, the adrenaline rush of the race. It was their life's fuel.

As Ponyville came into view at the edge of the forest, Dash began to look around for her opponent. She was unable to locate the pegasus, until his signature sonic boom rang out. Turning her head in the direction of the noise, she watched the line of grey streak past her.

Putting on a burst of speed herself, Rainbow Dash continued to strain herself. If she lost this race, it would be a serious hit to her ego. Skimming over the treetops, she could see the air bending around her. If she was going to win, she needed to perform a sonic rainboom. Hopefully it would work this time. At her current altitude, there would be no time to recover.

But the ledge that was their finish line was too close. Rainbow Dash desperately tried to stop, and upon seeing Sonic Boom already standing on the ledge, she just gave in. The mountain side came up fast, and she caught it with her face. Ouch.

As she slid down the side of the mountain, Sonic Boom walked over to the cyan mare.

"Well Rainbow Dash, according to Gilbird, I won. Do you agree with him?" asked the other pegasus mockingly, knowing full well he won.

"How... How can you fly so fast?"

"Simple. I'm the fastest flier in Equestria. Sorry Rainbow, I seem to have taken your title. Officially." he said, adding insult to literal injury.

Rainbow Dash wanted to be mad. She really did. But she just couldn't bring herself to be angry with the stallion that had just made a mockery of her flying abilities. She just couldn't.

"Well, I admit my defeat. You are the fastest flier, Sonic Boom. Just don't think I won't try to take it back." she said, grinning widely.

"Anytime Dash. Just not now, I'm still worn out."

"And my face is in so much pain right now you have no idea. I'll see you later, ok? And don't worry, I won't tell anypony about your blindness."

"Thanks Dash, that's very important that no one ever finds out. Bye."

**\SPACE/**

Awakening again, something all too familiar to Black Watch. He had been moved again. Being bound to things is something he was accustomed to, but not when he was strapped to a large table coated in blood and pus.

"Ah, good. You're awake. Now we can begin the binding." it was the same alicorn stallion as before.

"What? What binding?"

"We're binding you to this wonderful creation, of course! I'm no expert in this field, so I'll leave my... employees, to tend to this situation." he began to laugh as he left the chamber.

Looking around, Watch realized that he was in the same chamber as before. Massive walls, dimly lit, it was exactly what he had seen when he'd entered. As he continued to examine his surroundings, he noticed that the wall to his feet was lowering itself. Engraved on the wall was the image of what he presumed to be a large construct. As the stone gave way to the room beyond, his suspicions were confirmed. A massive construct made of rotting flesh and other various pieces stood there, motionless. In its hands were two massive cleavers, ones that could easily disembowel him. It was an abomination.

"Alright, don't you dare resist, or else you'll just mess up the binding and you'll die. Got it?" said the cultist leading the ritual.

Black Watch knew better than to struggle now. He was still unable to cast, and still weaker than these cultists. He wasn't stupid enough to try. He lay still and awaited the procedure to end, and waited for his vision to change to the perspective of the abomination.

But it never did. He heard a loud lurching noise, and opened his eyes to see the abomination stepping forward. The cultists approached it, confident that their ritual had worked, and the construct was now possessed by Black Watch and under their direct control.

It was not. Black Watch telepathically gave it the orders to tear the cultists apart. It happily obliged, and the blood and guts flew freely from the cleavers. Indeed, it was under control of Black Watch.

**\SPACE/**

"And so ends the story of how I acquired my abomination." said Black Watch, having spent the past evening telling Twilight stories from his travels.

"But, who were the other ponies? Do you know who the mare was, or who the alicorn is? He sounds like he'd be dangerous." asked Twilight, spooked by the story.

"Well, after some searching, I finally got answers to that. The mare was an adventurer named Golden Dusk. She was apparently a paladin of Avandra, one of the ancient deities from before Celestia and Luna came around. She had been sent with her husband, East Guise, to investigate the same temple I was one day prior. Everypony thought they'd be capable of facing them. Even I did, I thought I was just some sort of quality control. Anyway, the cultists managed to overpower them, and East Guise was sacrificed to Vecna. They left Golden alive to torture her with this knowledge. The ultimate asshole move, committed by the ultimate asshole. Based on this, guess who the alicorn was."

Twilight thought for a while before a look of realisation spread across her face.

"It was... Lemminkaenen?" she guessed with certainty.

"Indeed it was. The ones I thought were ponies were actually earth elementals, as I discovered after Gordo killed them."

"Why did you name the abomination Gordo? Isn't that just a little odd to you?"

"He was already named Gordo. Evidently the pony whose brain is now in his head was named Gordo."

"Well, this was an interesting story Watch. But now it's pretty late, I'm going to bed. Good night."

Twilight kissed Black Watch before walking up the stairs and going to bed. Blade looked away from the window for the first time this evening.

"So she's _that_ kind of friend, huh?" he said mockingly.

"Shut up. Anyway, I don't see you having a girlfriend."

"Of course not. Too much of a liability. If I ever get out of the trade, though, then I'll get a mare. Easy." he said surely.

Both stallions laughed before Black Watch turned in for the night. Blade continued to watch through the window for something, a sign of his allies.

"Come on, Sparky. Where are you?"

**A/N: Oooooh, cliffhanger.**

**So I mentioned some OCs were sent in. **

**Special thanks to:**

**InvaderXJadeXUchiha for the OC Sonic Boom.**

**ShadowZach for the OC Blade.**

**To expand on the list of characters I own:**

**Golden Dusk**

**Astral Spark**

**This was a more laid-back hold over chapter before the third lieutenant shows up. Don't worry, I'll be back to some badass-ery soon.**

**-Flyingspud**


	5. Well, That Was Awkward

**A/N: I'm back. It took a while longer, just as I said. School work's been piling up; I just finished three big assignments that were keeping me from writing this. Got a few big twists in here, brace yourselves. Typical disclaimer, I don't own MLP, or anything else referenced by this story. The OCs are mine unless otherwise noted.**

**Also: the events of this chapter would have taken place prior to the season finale. Just to clear that up.**

**To clear up an error made in my authors notes of chapter 2-3, Sheogorath was introduced in Oblivion and made a reappearance in Skyrim.**

**Without further ado, here's chapter five.**

**\SPACE/**

"So you're saying that Astral Spark only took Gummi, and left nothing?"

"Certain. I spent a good two hours this searching Sugarcube Corner."

Black Watch and Twilight were walking back from Sugarcube, having just completed their investigation. Just as Twilight said, there were no conclusive results. Why was Pinkie's pet taken, but not the mare that was an Element of Harmony?

"Black Watch, I've got news for you!" shouted Blade, running up behind them.

"What is it? Answers about why Gummi was taken?" Watch asked.

"Not quite. But I managed to acquire these papers stating Astral Spark's next course of action."

Giving them to Black Watch, he continued his briefing.

"His plan is to openly attack Appleoosa. Take them off guard, and then establish a more permanent base of operations. If we get there in time, we may be able to bag him."

"Hmm. I think we should wait on that, it's probably some code or something. I must admit, you're a great spy, Blade. Ever consider a career change?"

**\SPACE/**

Rainbow Dash was flying over the forest rather quickly, determined to get to Sonic Boom before her lunch break was over. Her wings were beating furiously as she strove to reach his home in time. When the ledge began to come in to view, she finally began slowing down. But not quickly enough. She smacked into the cliff side again.

Getting up, she walked up to the stallion's home.

"Hey Sonic, how ya doin' today?"

"WHAT THE... oh, hi Dash. You got me at a bad time. Can you wait a minute?"

After waiting about five minutes, he finally emerged, a heavy bandage around his eyes.

"What happened to you?" Rainbow asked.

"A minor incident. Some crazy shit happened, and I got something in my eyes, and I'm still blind as a bat."

"Well, what's with the bandages then?"

"This."

He unravelled the strip of cloth, revealing not his usual glazed over eyes, but instead bloodshot orbs with heavily dilated pupils.

"Can you describe them? All I know is that Gilbird freaked when he saw them."

"Well, they're very... red." Dash began.

"No colour. Use something else, like emotions or something."

"Right. Well, they're very... threatening, I guess. I think you should just keep them covered up.

"Agreed. Can you tie this; I'm not so good at it."

"Sure. Got any plans for the day?"

Rainbow began tying the bandage on as they spoke. She didn't know why, but there was something about Sonic Boom that made her feel relaxed. She finished tying off the cloth when a sudden comment snapped her back to the present.

"So, how's six o'clock?" said Sonic Boom.

"Huh? Uh, ok."

"Great. You'll meet me here, I guess?"

"Sure."

As the cyan pegasus flew off, she began thinking.

_What did I just agree to?_

**\SPACE/**

Rarity was busy filling out the order she had just received from Canterlot. Ever since the last of the construction ended, Ponyville had returned to normal, mostly. Vendors were selling their wares, the foals were in school, and ponies carried out their daily lives. The only reminder of the tragic events of the past month and a half was a large memorial in the center of town.

As much as she tried not to think about it, her mind kept wandering back to the relationship between Twilight and Black Watch. She hadn't seen them much since Watch was hospitalized, but she knew they were committed.

_I don't know why I bother occupying myself with this, but... ow!_

She put down her work and examined her hoof. Just another needle prick. Getting back to the dress, she heard someone enter.

"Rarity, you busy?" it was Twilight.

"Just a minute!"

Rarity came downstairs and saw her friend standing just inside the doorway.

"What a pleasant surprise! I thought you were busy with your studies and what not." she said, inviting the purple mare in.

"Well, I am. I decided I can spare some time to talk to my friend though. I really need to talk to a mare for a change. Never thought I'd say that..."

"How do you mean, darling?"

"Well, I've been spending the bulk of my time surrounded by stallions who do nothing but talk about plans and war. It's a lot more boring than you would think."

"I bet. Is there anything specific that you wanted to talk about?"

"Um, yes. It's sort of personal though; do you promise not to tell anypony about this?"

"Of course." the idea of a secret always interested Rarity.

"Well, um... at what point would you say a couple should get... closer, if you know what I mean." Twilight exaggerated the word "closer", and the entire sentence came out awkwardly.

"I think I see what you're getting at. Just to be sure, you are talking about... sex?"

Twilight nodded.

"I'm sorry darling, but I don't think I'm the best pony to ask about that."

"Well, you're a better bet than Pinkie or Applejack, they've never been in a relationship and we both know that they aren't the best at keeping secrets. Rainbow's had a few, but all of them broke up with her. Fluttershy can hardly think about it, which is why I decided to ask you."

"Of course. If you want my opinion darling, just wait. Don't pressure him into going too fast. Remember you only got him to start talking openly just over two weeks ago."

"Ok. Thank you Rarity." Twilight got up to leave.

"Is that all?"

"Yes. I'll see you at the spa this Sunday?"

"Of course."

**\SPACE/**

Shadows were welcoming to the assassin. He knew that he could move unseen, and that meant free reign. He was the shadow, and everypony knew that. As another form approached, he emerged from hiding.

"Good evening Blade."

"Evening."

Something about the other pony's voice set him on edge. It was almost like being spoken to by Death himself.

"I'm glad to see that you're still well. How has Watch (he spat at the name) taken the lies?"

"He's buying them. He doesn't doubt me at all. I'm ready to proceed onto stage two."

"Excellent. I'll get Astral Spark in place. You've done well Blade. You will be paid handsomely for your work."

"That's all I need."

As the other pony drew away, the assassin sank back into the shadows. It was almost time. Judgement Day was near.

**\SPACE/**

Watch was almost to the cafe where he was to meet Twilight for lunch. After spending his whole morning looking into a few things, he needed a break. Maybe he was still more introverted than he thought.

"Hey there Watch." Twilight greeted.

"Hey Twi." he kissed her on the forehead. "How was your morning?"

"Well, I spoke to Rarity, and then I helped take a census of her animals, just to make sure that she got them all back. At least, the living ones back."

"Hmm. I spent the whole morning piecing a few things together. Nothing exciting."

"Excuse me, are you ready to order?" asked the waiter.

"I'll have a daffodil and daisy sandwich, please." said Twilight hungrily.

"And for you sir?"

"Thickest steak you got. Thank you." ordered Black Watch.

The waiter left to get their food. It wasn't long before they were interrupted yet again.

"Are you Overseer Black Watch?"

"Temporarily, ye... HOLY SHIT!" he exclaimed, causing Twilight to look up before falling back in shock.

The pony who had approached them wasn't simply standing there. No, he was standing on the back of a sizable wolf. The wolf had no colour, and pure red eyes. A true albino. The grey unicorn descended from his mount, allowing it to run off to the edge of town.

"My name is Seth Shadowsky. I seek training in a... specific art, Overseer. One in which you are a master."

"Are you a guard?" asked Watch, ignoring the request.

"Formerly, sir."

"Then you aren't one now. Do not address me as Overseer. It's a temporary post."

"Yes sir. Then how shall I address you?"

"By name is fine. So, you mentioned training in my field?"

"That's right."

Black Watch sighed.

"I'll tell you the same thing I told Twilight. No, I will not teach you necromancy."

"Why not?"

"Two main reasons. First, you need royal permission. Second, you need to have a certain mindset, and I need to be sure that you have it before I begin training."

"If I meet these criteria, will you teach me?"

"I'll consider it."

Seth smiled and began to walk away.

"Your meal."

The waiter deposited the two plates in front of them. Where Twilight was usually satisfied with just a sandwich, Black Watch had a far more ravenous appetite. Even with substantially more food than Twilight, he ate it much faster and was still hungry. Belching loudly, he set down the empty drink glass.

"How do you eat so fast?" asked Twilight dumbfounded.

"Years of practice. Check!" he called out the passing waiter.

"Still, that was what, a five pound steak?"

"Yeah. I'm going to hate myself about it in the morning, too." Watch chuckled to himself.

When they paid for their food, the two began to walk back to the library.

**\SPACE/**

She was flying over the trees as she usually did to see Sonic Boom. It was slower this time, and she felt unsure. What had she agreed to?

The familiar ledge came into view, with the stallion standing on there, still wearing the bandage. Rainbow Dash landed next to him.

"Hey." she said.

"Ah, evening, Dash. Ready to go?"

_Go where?_

"Yup, lead the way."

_Was I supposed to know where to go?_

"Alright, here we go!" he said, taking to the air.

Rainbow followed him, feeling very uncomfortable. After nearly thirty minutes, a familiar location came into view. It was Ghastly Gorge.

"So, you still want to do this?" he asked.

_Do what?_

"Yeah."

She was surprised when he produced a small pile of firewood, and before long they were eating dinner before the setting sun. This wasn't as bad as she's thought. But before long, darkness fell and the two finished eating. Sonic Boom broke the silence.

"So Dash, you ready for this? It's going to be dangerous."

Rainbow hesitated. She still didn't know what he was talking about. After a minute of thinking, she answered.

"Let's do it."

Sonic Boom grinned, and whispered something to Gilbird. The bird hopped down from his owner's shoulder and flapped over to Rainbow Dash. Landing on her head, he tied a blindfold around her eyes.

"Alright Dash, you know the drill. You told me you knew this course inside out, and you even went as far as to say that you could fly through it blind. Let's put that to the test. I'll do it too, just to see if you're as good a blind flyer as you claim to be." said Sonic Boom eagerly.

Relief flowed through the mare. So it was just a race through the gorge. It would be effortless. She knew the course inside out, just as Sonic had said. She wasn't going to lose this race too. Lining up on the ledge she always launched from, the two ponies leapt off. The adrenaline hit quickly, and both accelerated to breakneck speeds.

Rainbow Dash knew every turn, every obstacle. Or so she thought. As they approached the first turn, she misjudged her speed and overshot, smashing into the cliff wall. Recovering quickly, she pushed off, using the momentum to make up for lost time. She didn't know where her opponent was, or even if she was going to right way. Smashing through the patch of thorny vines, she figured out where she was. Still, she struggled to get out o them.

Sonic Boom was no better off. He hadn't been ready for the wind tunnel, and wasn't able to make it through on the first try. After two failed attempts, he finally tanked through it. By now, Rainbow Dash had taken a huge lead.

She barreled past the Quarry Eels, one of them nearly catching her tail. The race was nearly over, and Dash still had no idea where her opponent was. But that didn't slow her down; she was determined to get her title back, no matter what. She was the fastest flier, and nobody was going to take that from her. Streaking around the last corner, she crossed the finish line triumphantly. Stopping by smacking into yet another rock, she removed her blindfold. Sonic Boom wasn't there.

_I won! Now I just need to wait for him to show up._

But never did. The night ticked by, but Sonic Boom didn't show up. As the sun began to rise on a sleeping Rainbow Dash, she woke worried. She had to find him. Streaking back into the canyon, she began her search.

**\SPACE/**

Meanwhile, shrinking shadows meant less cover for the assassin. Stage two was simple, and he was glad about that. Best of all, the target didn't suspect him at all. Now, how should he do it? Something spectacular, or simple? Discreet or obvious? So many choices...

In the end, he decided on the simply obvious method. A poisoned knife, slipped between the ribs. So easy, and it never fails.

**\SPACE/**

Black Watch and Twilight entered the library, Seth in tow. Today, Watch would begin the first of three main tests to begin necromancy training. Seth was eager to get started, so Watch didn't delay.

"So, what's first?" asked the grey unicorn.

"First, I need to test your magical endurance. The spells used aren't particularly costly, but some need to be held for a very long time, such as summoning. You need to be able to withstand it."

"So what do I do?"

"Catch."

Watch threw the ornamental horse's head, watching as Seth caught it. The wooden head remained hovering beside him.

"Now hold that for the rest of the day. If you drop it, wait a day and start over. That's all for today." explained the necromancer.

Seth walked out, ornament in tow. Twilight looked curiously between the two.

"What's that all about? Did he actually get royal permission? What are the other two tests?" she bombarded.

"Delays, no, and there aren't any, respectively. I'm just delaying the mindcheck."

Twilight thought briefly, and then laughed. Watch laughed too, and they could still see the other unicorn walking away, snapping at anyone who looked at him oddly, and in general looking like an ass. When he was out of sight, the two went back into the library.

"Watch, there's something important I need to ask you." said Twilight.

**\SPACE/**

"What are you laughing at?" asked Seth angrily.

Ponies had been laughing at him all day. The weight of the horse head was starting to strain his endurance, but he was determined not to fail this challenge. He decided it was easier just to stay out of Ponyville. So he set his course for the edge of the nearby forest, where few ponies tended to be. Of course, it helped that his wolf Nightkilla was there.

As he approached the treeline, he could hear the sounds of his mount. It sounded like it was pleased, judging by the growls of pleasure. Looking through the trees, he saw none other than his wolf, lying on its back, with a butter yellow pegasus mare rubbing its belly.

"You're just a big old puppy, aren't you? Yes you are, yes you are." she said in a cutesy voice.

"Excuse me, what are you doing?" Seth asked.

At the sound of his voice, the mare tensed up with a surprised squeak. She fell to the ground, standing ridged.

"Uh, who are you?" asked Seth, noticing just how attractive she looked hiding in her mane.

"F... F... Fluttershy..." her voice was quiet, and clearly nervous.

"Ok, I'm Seth Shadowsky. Call me Seth." he said awkwardly.

When Fluttershy didn't reply, he spoke up again.

"I see my wolf has taken quite a liking to you. You into animals?" he asked.

She seemed to light up at the question.

"Oh yes, I love animals. I have a lot of them at my cottage just up the road. This is your wolf?" she said, a lot more energy in her voice.

"Yeah, he is."

"Wow, I've never met anypony with a pet wolf before, especially an albino. What's his name?"

"Nightkilla. He's more my mount than my pet, though."

"Hmm, that doesn't seem like a very fitting name. If he were black, maybe, but he's pure white. That doesn't seem like a very 'night' colour, now does it?" she said, a lot more sure of herself now.

"I... never thought of that." deadpanned Seth.

"Why don't you... Why are you carrying that statue? Isn't that the one from the library?" she asked him.

"Yeah, it's from the library. It's part of my preparation for necromancer training." he said confidently.

"Necromancer training? Is Black Watch teaching you?" she asked, suddenly less sure of herself.

"Yeah, he's teaching me as soon as I complete the three trials."

"That's funny. Why would he teach you, but not Twilight? I figured he'd consider teaching her over you..."

"Why?" he asked, questioning her reasoning.

"Well, they are dating after all. Everypony knows, I'm surprised you don't." she replied.

Seth wasn't too surprised by the news, although he did nearly drop the statue. Anyways, they continued to talk about various things, before Fluttershy invited him back to her cottage so they could talk in more comfort.

**\SPACE/**

The lack of shadows always discouraged the assassin. It was so much harder to escape in daylight. He decided to wait for nightfall before eliminating his target. He hoped Astral Spark would approve of that. The deviant had a streak of impatience. Waiting for anything made him irate. No matter, it was going to happen this evening, no matter what. Blade walked toward the library determined, thinking of a story to keep Black Watch alone in the library. Nothing came to mind. He'd just adlib it.

**\SPACE/**

She had been unable to locate the stallion for almost three hours. Rainbow Dash was starting to freak out, and she hoped that one of the Quarry Eels hadn't gotten him. She was about to give up and fly back to Ponyville when she heard something. A loud screech.

Looking towards the sound of the noise, she saw Gilbird sitting on a branch hanging out over a shallow gap. At least, she thought it was shallow. Flying over, the bird ducked down into the ditch, being swallowed by the darkness. Hoping Sonic Boom was down there, Rainbow followed.

It was almost like another gorge beneath the one above. The area was wide open, and Dash could feel a hot breeze blowing up from the bottom. Looking over the edge of the overhang, she saw pure magma below. Needless to say, she quickly hopped back from the edge. As the mare turned around, she heard her name called from lower down.

"Dash? You there?" it was Sonic Boom. He sounded distant.

Flying toward the sound of the voice, Gilbird in tow, Rainbow Dash went as quickly as she could straight down, towards the magma. She saw the form of a pony lying almost motionless on the edge of the overhang, this one lower than the first. She landed next to the body, recognizing it as Sonic. He looked up at her, eyes still bloodshot and dilated.

"I made a wrong turn. Gilbird sure wasn't as useful at course navigation as I'd hoped. Good race though, you got your title back." he said, grinning in defiance of his state.

"We gotta get you out of here, you're hurt pretty bad!" Rainbow Dash was urgent. If Sonic slipped a foot back, he'd fall over the edge. In his current condition, there was no way he could fly. Rainbow would have to carry him out.

"I'll carry you out, just hold on." she instructed.

As they grabbed hold of each other's hooves, the ledge let out a loud groan. There was no way it would continue to hold their combined weight. Rainbow Dash started to take off, but the stallion was heavier than he looked. With him also flapping his wings as much as he could, they two managed to get off the ledge. As soon as they were in the air, the rock gave way and plummeted into the lava below them. Chunks of searing rock splashed up as a blast of steam was let out. Gilbird was already well ahead of them, flying upwards toward the sunlight outside.

_We're going to make it, just a little further..._

Rainbow Dash was nearly to the first overhang when suddenly Sonic's grip slipped. He was held up by his wings for a second, but then began to fall. Rainbow Dash swung around, holding beneath him, and started to lift him up. His full weight was on her now, and she was struggling to carry both.

_I can't make it. He's just too heavy._

"Dash. Let me go, just make sure you get out." the stallion said calmly. He looked like someone who had just accepted their death.

_No. I will succeed. I will not let another friend down. Not after what happened in battle._

"I'm never going to let you down Sonic. I'm not going to desert you here, not now." she said determined.** (And you just got Rick Rolled)**

Indeed, she did not. Her wings were forced beyond any limits she had previously had. She was beating her wings strong enough to perform a Sonic Rainboom, if she didn't have any extra weight. But there was still a good fifteen feet to go before the overhang. Straining every flight muscle in her body, she finally managed to make it over the edge, and the two ponies collapsed in a heap on the edge.

"I told you I wouldn't let you down." she said, panting for breath.

"Dash, look at me. I'm gone anyway." he said, calm as before.

_What?_

Dash looked at the face of the stallion, and was shocked as the sunlight shone directly on him. It wasn't Sonic Boom at all. It was somepony the mare had never seen before, but was oddly familiar. As he raised his left forehoof to her face, it hit her like a cliff wall. The clammy hoof brushed her mane aside, and she looked into the eyes of this stallion. Eye, for that matter.

Lemminkaenen laughed, the diabolical laugh of the cliché supervillain.

"Oh Rainbow Dash, I'm disappointed. I had hoped it would take you a little longer to figure it out, if you know what I mean. Spark, get back here. You've done your job." the summoner called in his raspy hollow voice.

Indeed, Gilbird was not the bird at all, simply the deviant known as Astral Spark. As he returned to his usual goat form, he stood beside his master.

"What do you want me to do now, my lord?" he asked.

"Go back to Ponyville. Make sure that Blade has done his job properly. I'll handle our prisoner."

"As you wish."

As the deviant shape shifted back into the bird, he flew off back to town. Lemminkaenen faced Rainbow again.

"As for you, my dear..." he said, a sinister grin growing across his face.

**\SPACE/**

Night had fallen in Ponyville, and most were just going to bed, Watch and Twilight included. After their conversation earlier, things were slightly awkward between them. Watch admitted it was a topic he had never given any thought. Regardless, neither of them was getting laid that night. Twilight was the first one to break the silence.

"Um, want anything? Maybe something to eat, or drink?" she offered.

"No thanks. I've got to concentrate on this paperwork."

"Alright, I'm going to bed. Good night."

"Night Twi." said Watch absent mindedly.

As she went off to sleep, the Overseer began to attack his never-ending pile of paperwork. The forms were endless, and equally pointless.

_A requisition for 10 crates of emergency toilet paper to be sent to Trottingham? Seriously? What's wrong with the stuff they have there?_

As he fell into the rhythm of signing his name on every dotted line, he began to think about what was going on. There was so much to do, and he had no idea what was going to happen next. It didn't take long before he saw a much awaited letter on top of the stack. It was from Princess Celestia. Tearing the envelope open, he read the letter.

_Dear Overseer Black Watch,_

_No doubt you are growing tired of your job. Send all the documents you receive to me, I will deal with them from there. And don't worry about getting a command. Just as Luna informed you, your post is temporary. You have now been relieved of your post; Taskmaster Shining Armour has taken it. You are no longer bearing any rank in the Royal Guards._

_Princess Celestia_

Watch nearly jumped up when he read the news. It was a relief; the paperwork was still piling up. Oh well, Shining Armour's problem now. He turned to go to bed when he realized that the problem between himself and Twilight prevented them from sharing the bed as they had the past week or so. He'd just have to sleep on the floor tonight then. He laid down and started to fall asleep.

A loud thump woke him. Looking toward the door, he saw none other than Seth standing there, still carrying the horse head statue. The other stallion beamed excitedly.

"Well, I did it. I held this thing up for a whole day. Can we go ahead with the check now?" he asked.

"Hell no. Not at... 11:00 at night. It's too late. Wait until tomorrow." replied Watch groggily.

Seth looked downcast, but then resigned to it. He put the head back on the table where it was before, and went to leave. No sooner than he had left had Blade entered. The assassin pushed past the unicorn, knocking the other stallion into the doorframe. He walked straight toward Black Watch.

"Hey Blade. What brings you around so late?" asked Watch, not paying the assassin a second thought.

The assassin did not respond, but simply shoved the black stallion to the floor.

"What the hell?" Black Watch exclaimed angrily. Why did Blade just push him around like that?

The assassin remained silent, only staring a thousand mile stare into his companion's eyes. Neither pony broke their gaze until a knife was lifted between them both. Watch's eyes grew wide at the sight; he didn't expect his ally to do this.

"Sorry boy, a contract's a contract. And it just so happens that you've been outbid." he smiled wryly at the necromancer.

"Well, I won't go down without a fight." said Watch intensely.

**A/N: For extra effect, play this song: .com/watch?v=jLJLyneZGKc**

The assassin smiled and leapt back, throwing a series of knives at his target. They embedded themselves in the floor just short of where Watch was standing, leaving him stumbling back. Magic building in his horn, Black Watch turned to look for his opponent. The assassin was nowhere to be seen. Backing up towards the wall, the necromancer summoned two zombies to assist him. As the bodies burst from the floor, another flurry of knives drove them away. Looking up, he saw the pegasus sitting on top of the bookshelves next to the door. Firing the magic missile, he aimed wide of his foe. A chunk of the wall was torn out, and the assassin leapt down from his perch, knife swinging.

The first slash caught Black Watch across the face, adding another scratch to his scars. Flailing out, Watch hit Blade in the throat, causing the knife to fall from his grip. Both ponies dove for it, but neither made it. They were caught in mid air, and floating with the knife only inches away from either one. The source of this interruption was unseen, although they figured out who it was quite quickly.

"What's going on here? Why are you trying to kill each other in my library?"

Twilight was obviously angry, and wasn't going to let either of them go.

"Um, Twi, could you move that knife before Blade gets a hold of it?" asked Watch.

No sooner had the knife been tossed aside had Black Watch felt the impact of another object. Looking down, he was what it was.

"_Damn, how many knives does that pony carry?"_ was his last thought before blackness overcame him.

**A/N: Stop the music here.**

**\SPACE/**

Something was calling him. He didn't know what, but it was almost like something was calling his name.

"Bl... Tch... Black... Atch...?" the voice was familiar.

Twilight. She was calling him. Why did she sound so distant, so hazy? It didn't take long to realize that he'd probably passed out from blood loss or something. He must be in the hospital recovering. Or so he thought.

Opening his eyes, he was confronted with a hazy image of Twilight, with only five candles providing light. He couldn't see anything else, but he assumed them to be in the library.

"Um, Twi, what's with the set-up?" he asked. His voice made him stop. It was nearly angelic, and the change startled him. Evidently, it startled Twilight as well.

"Black Watch, so it is true. I... I can't believe it..." she got as far as that before being reduced to tears.

"What's the matter? Did I do something wrong?" the stallion asked. He was wondering what was wrong with his voice. It was still changed.

"You... you... died." she managed to get out.

Black Watch froze. Everything about him was stagnant. He couldn't move, he couldn't think. The information hit him like a train. He was simply stunned. Dead? Blade had succeeded in killing him?

"Twilight... how? How did it happen and how am I talking to you now?" he asked, much more seriously. He tried hard to put the thoughts of his death out of his mind.

"Blade, he... threw the knife into your chest. It went too deep, but the blade itself didn't have much effect. But it was... coated in a fast-acting neuro-toxin. That's what killed you. I'm... I'm talking to you through a sort of spirit channeling. Zecora managed to get it to work, so I could have a few last words with you." she stopped, again reduced to a sobbing wreck.

"Well, you've got me here now. What do you want to say?" he said, defeated.

"Well, how about what to do next? Surely you can find out anything now, right?" she said, trying to perk up.

"No Twi, that's not how it works. I experience nothing at all until something like this happens. I can't tell you anything I didn't already know. Sorry." he replied.

Anything positive Twilight had thought was gone. She became depressed again, and looked like she'd start crying again. It hurt Black Watch to see her like this.

"Twilight, I think there might be a way to get me back." he said.

She immediately jumped up at the sound of this.

"What is it?" she asked excitedly.

"Bind me to something. Find a body, and I will take it over in a form of possession. Just be careful about which body you choose though. It's more of a reanimation than it is a possession. My spirit will be the one in the body, but I will essentially gain the personality of the previous... occupant, for lack of a better term." he explained.

Twilight considered it.

"They haven't done anything with your body yet, should I use that one? You've only been dead for an hour, so I think it should work out alright." she told him.

"Excellent. Do you know the process?"

"No, I thought you did."

"I only know it exists. We need someone with a high degree of magical skill, and one who knows the procedure. Maybe Celestia or Luna?" he offered.

"I'll go get them. Just sit tight here."

"I don't have much of a choice, do I?"

Twilight ran off, but forgot that she was powering the spell. As she ran off, the magic keeping Black Watch channeled dissipated, releasing the binding.

**\SPACE/**

He was pulled back just as forcefully as before.

"Luna's here and she volunteered to do it."

"Good. Hey sis, you know what you're doing, right?"

"Of course I do. Unlike Tia, I actually didn't forget everything over my 100 years apart." Luna replied in a hurt tone.

"Uh huh. Just get this done." Black Watch said.

Luna didn't reply, but looked a little irritated by his sharp tone. Her horn began to glow a bright blue, illuminating the entire room. With little warning, Black Watch felt himself being dragged down, towards the body they'd laid out. He was now being pulled into it, and it felt like being yanked through, well... a corpse. It was disgusting, and it left him feeling like he'd just been coated in a thick slime. The body hadn't been damaged in any way, so at least he didn't have that to worry about.

When the spell was finished, he could see Luna passing out on the floor to his right. Looking to his left, he saw Twilight standing curiously over him. He tried to rise to his feet, but to no avail. His legs were weak, a probable side effect of either the spell or the poison. Twilight rushed to him, wrapping him in a tight embrace.

"It worked! You're alright now!" she cried through tears of joy.

"Well, it worked. You got one out of two. Twilight, I am disappointed, you aren't one to get less than one hundred percent." he said jokingly.

"Now's not the time to talk. Let's get you to bed, you need to recover."

Before he could say anything else, Twilight lifted him onto her back and carried him to her bed. Putting him to bed, Twilight started to go downstairs.

"Where're you going Twi?" asked Watch groggily.

"To sleep downstairs." Twilight was still feeling awkward about what happened before.

"It's ok Twi, you can stay up here. May as well be comfortable, eh?" he said before passing out cold.

Twilight smiled to herself and climbed into the bed next to him. Things were back to how they were supposed to be between them.

**\SPACE/**

"HE WHAT?"

Lemminkaenen's raspy voice echoed throughout the ravine. Astral Spark shrunk back away from his master. He was always afraid when he yelled like that. Whenever Lemminkaenen was angry, someone or something died. It wasn't Spark yet, but the only reason he was the summoner's first assistant was because he'd replaced the first one. In one of his furies, Lemminkaenen had killed his first lieutenant. So Spark had taken his place.

"Yes my lord. He failed his objective. Blade has been captured and detained, and according to my scouting, Watch is still alive." he repeated nervously.

"Get out. Tell my guards likewise." he said flatly.

The summoner's eye flashed in rage. As long as Black Watch was alive, there was a greatly reduced chance of success. The anger built up to his breaking point, and he released a large blast of magic at his frightened lieutenant, vaporising him instantly. Turning to one of his guards, he gave his orders.

"Belay that order. We're moving out."

There was no chance this time. He'd be pulling all the stops on this one. He had the resources, the troops. There was no chance for failure. After all, when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

And Lemminkaenen had a very large hammer.

**A/N: And there it is. Chapter five. The next chapter is probably going to be the last, with a possible epilogue afterwards. The first person to guess a) the franchise and b) the character that the "all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail" quote came from will get a shoutout in my next chapter. **

**Now then, I also have a little survey for you. Who is the best character to appear in season 2? Results will be mentioned in my next chapter if enough people answer.**

**Updated list of OCs:**

**Blade courtesy of ShadowZach**

**Seth Shadowsky courtesy of thehiddenbrony**

**Sonic Boom courtesy of InvaderXJadeXUchiha**

**Thanks for reading, please leave a review. I'll have the next chapter up whenever I finish it, and it will be glorious. **


	6. The Battle of Ponyville

**A/N: Disclaimer: I do not own MLP or anything else this story references. I own only the OCs I claim as my own in the credits. This chapter has YouTube links for music that I think enhances the mood during the battle, so if you choose to listen to it, just copy-paste the links into your browser and listen. Repeat the songs as necessary.**

"So, where do you think Rainbow went?"

"I'm not sure Twi, maybe another one of your friends knows?"

"We've already asked them all."

Black Watch and Twilight had been searching for Rainbow Dash for nearly four hours. No one knew where she'd gone, and that left no leads. The two had had enough.

"Well, we've still got to interrogate Blade, and then you need to talk to Seth about his training. Which do you want to do first?"

"I figured we'd talk to Blade. Then we can see Seth."

"Or we can see Seth now." replied Twilight.

"Hey Watch, Twilight."

Seth strode over to them, a clearly excited look on his face. He'd been eager to get training under way ever since Watch had returned, and that excitement was not lost on the necromancer.

"Fine. I guess Blade will have to wait, unless you want to go talk to him yourself, Twilight. In the meantime, Seth, follow me."

"I'll go talk to Blade. See you later Watch." Twilight left.

"Well, I'm ready to start training."

Black Watch led Seth into the library, going down to the basement so that they wouldn't risk damaging the books. The basement was set up for the training, with the familiar pungent musk of embalming fluid wafting around. The two stallions settled in, ready to begin the trials.

"Alright Seth, I need you to unlock your mind. Just clear all your thoughts, and I'll begin."

"Yes, sir!" he replied.

The two ponies sat down, lying six feet apart from each other. Rings etched into the floor began to glow a light purple, and the rune stones that strengthened the spell began to light up, casting a blue aura around the basement. Black Watch's horn turned to a sickly green, just like when he cast soul steal. He released the build up of magic, and the green light arced across the gap, entering Seth's horn. Black Watch soon found himself in the mind of the other pony. It wasn't as clear as he'd hoped, but he'd make do.

**\SPACE/**

Rainbow Dash stirred uncomfortably in her cell. It had been two days since her capture, and things weren't looking any better. A small slot at the bottom of the wall popped open, and a tray containing three rotten apples and a mug of water slid in. She eyed it cautiously, as if she expected something to burst out. Sure enough, a large roach came crawling out of the third apple. Thoroughly disgusted, Dash threw the tray against the wall. The apples exploded into a mushy mess, the third one in an eruption of tiny roaches that all began scurrying away. Rainbow leapt back in surprise.

_I hate bugs._

She sank back into her bed. At least, what they called a bed. The pile of old rags and hay was hardly comfortable. She hadn't slept for the entire time she'd been imprisoned.

"Well well well, look who's not eating the food I've so graciously offered you. Didn't anyone ever teach you any manners?"

Lemminkaenen's voice filled the cell. The summoner had come along both days to interrogate her. Every time, she had refused to speak.

"What do you want this time?" she asked, trying to sound defiant through her sleepless demeanour.

"Oh, the same thing I've wanted for the past two days. I'm pleased to see you're still trying to be tough, but really now. That's just getting counter-productive. Allow me to explain your situation to you. You are a... GUEST. I need information from you, and I don't approve of liars. I think a one Astral Spark could testify, but he's not talking right now. Anyway, I've got a few new friends for you to play with. Have fun, Ms. Rainbow Dash."

The cell lock clicked, and with a loud crash, it flew open. Lemminkaenen stood in the doorway, his stature intimidating. He stepped aside, allowing two other ponies to pass him. He nodded to them, and slammed the door shut. Rather than going dark, the room remained partially illuminated. The other two were glowing faintly.

"Now tell me: what is Black Watch's plan? Where will he go next?" the taller of the two asked.

"I don't know. I've said that a million times already." Dash answered aggressively.

"What a shame."

The second pony took a step forward and reached out. Just before he touched the cyan mare, his hoof burst into flames. The mare screamed in pain, the hoof burning her coat and mane. The fire elemental continued to press for one minute before relenting. The other one grinned evilly.

"Now... let's try that again."

**\SPACE/**

Twilight sat patiently in the visitor's waiting room. The Ponyville Detention Center was seldom used, and the room was covered in a thick layer of dust. She chuckled to herself at the thought of Rarity being here right now, freaking out about the cleanliness of the building. Finally, three-thirty rolled around, and visiting hours began.

"Ms. Sparkle, we have the prisoner waiting for you."

"Thank you. Lead the way."

The guard nodded and led her through the hallways to the visitor's room. Blade was seated behind the safety bars, absent-mindedly staring at the wall. Twilight sat in front of him, ready to begin her questioning.

"Alright, what do you want to know?" asked Blade.

Twilight was caught off guard by his apparent acceptance.

"Umm, I need to know why you betrayed us." she said with authority.

"I didn't betray you."

"You killed Black Watch! How is that not betrayal?" Twilight exclaimed, pounding her hoof on the desk.

"I never worked for you. I'm surprised you didn't figure it out sooner, especially with your education. Too bad it's too late to change things around now."

"But... you... what?" Twilight was very confused.

"Again, I'm surprised. I offer my services to the highest bidder. It just so happens that you were... outbid, as it were."

"But... we didn't bid on a contract."

"Oh, but you did. I received the request myself, signed by someone by the name of "Overseer"."

"Overseer? Do you know anything about this Overseer?"

"I don't disclose information about my clients, or would-be clients."

"Oh come one. I need to know this. All our lives could depend on Black Watch knowing this!"

"I don't disclose... Wait, why would Watch need to know this? Isn't he dead?" Blade's calm demeanour vanished.

"He's alive. Does that change anything?"

"If you can make it worth my while, then I'll tell you anything. It'll be pricey, though."

Twilight sighed, wondering how anyone could ask for money at a time like this.

**\SPACE/**

Memories. There were so many, yet none were favourable.

_Joining the guards, his first post... guarding Celestia? They must have had faith in him. What happened next... HOLY SHIT! He did that? To HER? No wonder he was let go. Next..._

After spending a great deal of time searching through Seth's mind, he finally reached his decision. Withdrawing his spirit, he released Seth from the mind meld.

"Well, Mr. Shadowsky, I've reached my opinion."

"Well, WHAT IS IT!" Seth screamed out excitedly.

"I'm aware that Celestia has granted you her permission. With that in mind, I made this decision. I won't do it."

Seth deadpanned.

"After what I saw, I just can't, in good conscience, put you through the training. Out of the five that were sent to learn it with me, only two made it through, and one died of unknown causes a year later. The rest went mad. After all you've been through; I don't think your psyche could handle it." Watch explained.

"I'll prove you wrong, buddy. I swear I will, on my honour! You'll see!" he stormed off angrily.

Watch didn't reply, he just shook his head. Seth was hell bent on learning this art, there was no way this would stand in his way.

**\SPACE/**

She couldn't feel anything.

Rainbow Dash lay in her bed, heavily burned after the third round of fire torture. The next acid torture was in a few hours. Lemons squeezed into the burns only served to prolong the pain and enhance the torture. As the door slammed open again, Rainbow moaned in pain.

"Good morning, Ms. Dash. I hope you're happy, I know I am!" Lemminkaenen spoke cheerily, almost drunkenly.

Dash moaned again.

"You're getting a roommate! I'm so pleased; I'll even heal your injuries. Just hold still..."

Rainbow started to try and struggle away, but a wave of soothing warmth overcame her. Her burnt flesh glided back together, the oozing burns clearing away. Before long, her coat was restored to its former glory, and she stood up to face the summoner.

"Why the sudden change of heart?" she asked.

"No reason, no reason at all. Actually, I have a guest for you. Follow me."

He turned at left the cell, Rainbow Dash hot on his heels. She was eager to get out of the cell, rather than stay there to rot. The underground lair of Lemminkaenen was damp, steamy and generally uncomfortable. As they approached the ledge where she'd originally entered, she could feel the heat of the magma below.

"Hello there. I have your friend right here."

"Rainbow? Are you there?"

_It can't be... Sonic Boom?_

**\SPACE/**

Blade rubbed the sore spots around his hooves. The shackles had left bright red gashes, slightly visible through his coat. He was indebted to Twilight, seeing as she had just paid his bail. He walked along grudgingly; he hated being around other ponies for long periods of time. And he was in deep with Twilight now that she was his client, at least until he paid off his debt. He had to make sure that happened soon, and better yet, before seeing Watch again. He didn't think he could bring himself to face the other stallion on good terms.

"So Blade, what do you plan on doing now?" the mare's question brought him back from his daydream.

"Me? Well, I was planning on seeking out another contract. I need to keep working, after all." he replied.

"Well, I've got one for you. I'd like to hire you, Blade. Without Black Watch knowing, if possible."

"Why not? Aren't you two together? Why should he care if I'm hired?"

"You did kill him. No, I was hoping to keep it a secret; I'm not sure how he'd react to knowing that I hired an assassin. Will you take the job?" Twilight asked again, sounding more forceful this time.

"If you can pay for it, by all means. But first, I need to collect on another contract. Lemminkaenen still hasn't paid up."

"Well, that's convenient. I need you to kill him."

Blade grinned excitedly. This was right up his alley.

**\SPACE/**

Black Watch was starting to get hungry again. It had been five hours since lunch, and his stomach was starting to hurt. It hurt the way it does when you're really hungry, but haven't been able to eat. He'd agreed to another dinner date with Twilight, but she still hadn't shown up yet.

_Eh, whatever. I'll just go alone then._

He went over to the door, hoping that he'd let the basement air out long enough. Twilight still got sick around the oils and other things he used in his rituals. Anyways, he carried on towards the nearest restaurant.

As he entered, he saw none other than Twilight, sitting across from Blade, both of them eating dinner.

"Hey Twi, what's going on here?" he asked.

Twilight jumped up in her seat, startled by his voice.

"Ah! Oh, uh, hi Watch, I, um, uh, I didn't expect you to arrive so soon." she stumbled.

"What do you mean by that? Hey there Blade, see you're doing well." Black Watch added as a side note.

Blade just nodded and grinned mischievously. This was just too good.

**\SPACE/**

_**Three hours ago**_

Twilight had left to go and gather some things as well as make a reservation for her date that night. Blade was left to wander around, and look for something to occupy himself with. There wasn't much around Ponyville; it was a small town after all. He was about to go and find somewhere to stay that night when he heard someone calling him.

"Hey Blade! Over here!" the voice was familiar. It was Black Watch.

Blade turned around, hiding his surprise at seeing his former victim running towards him. Watch caught up and keeled over, trying to catch his breath.

"Uh... Gimme a minute here... *pant*... Ugh, being resurrected is... awkward, to say the least. I can't run, I can't carry anything heavy, I can't even go out in high heat otherwise I rot! I'm only slightly more physically capable than one of my summons. *pant*"

"Well, what is it you want? I don't think you ran over here just to tell me how you hate being resurrected."

"I don't hate it, it's just uncomfortable. I swear, once Lemminkaenen's gone, I'm going too. Anyway, I just wanted to ask you this, and give me a straight answer: why'd you kill me?"

"It was my job. I was hired to." replied Blade.

"Who hired you?"

"Who else? Who is your greatest enemy, the one that you have eluded all this time?"

_Lemminkaenen..._

"That's right. Now, there's something else you need to know." said Blade quickly, as he knew that Watch would probably try to take this conversation elsewhere.

"And that is?"

"Twilight hired me."

"What for?"

"To kill Lemminkaenen, what else? She also told me not to tell you, but I have a proposition for you..."

Black Watch listened, liking what the assassin told him.

**\SPACE/**

After Twilight managed to awkwardly stumble out, Black Watch took her seat. Blade looked at the other stallion, still grinning. After sitting there for a few seconds, they both burst into laughter.

"Well played, Watch, well played. She thinks that you suspect her of cheating or something! Priceless!"

"Of course. She'll be pissed off when she sees through the whole thing though. I hope you have a plan for that." Watch chided.

"Don't worry. She won't do anything stupid. Probably."

"She has a history of overreacting. I wouldn't be surprised if she does at least one stupid thing."

Their conversation was cut short by Twilight's return. And she was quite visibly pissed.

"So you were just bluffing about the whole thing? Why?" she asked, angrily.

"Because it was damn funny." Watch and Blade both said at the same time.

"Well, I don't think so. Watch, you better watch your back. I'll get you for this." she said, walking out of the restaurant.

"Going after her?" asked Blade.

"Nah, I still haven't eaten dinner yet." Watch sat down and called for a waiter.

**\SPACE/**

Well, that made his job so much easier. Rainbow Dash had proved to be quite resilient, but she'd snapped like a dry twig once he put her with Sonic Boom. So the blind gimp had proven useful anyway.

"Master, what is our course of action?"

Lemminkaenen glared at the weak minded cultist that had just entered. The Cult of Discord had nearly finished its preparations. With their secret weapon, there was no stopping the attack on Canterlot. Except, of course, the Elements of Harmony. With those in Equestrian hands, they had no chance. They'd have to eliminate the Bearers. That of course, meant sacking Ponyville again.

"Prepare our armies. I will grant control of my summoned minions to Astral Spark's brother. Now go." he ordered.

The other pony bowed and backed out of his command center. It was almost time. There was no way he could fail this one.

"Master, there's a problem."

"..."

"Master?"

"There's a... problem?" Lemminkaenen drew out his words, turning around with a sarcastic joy on his face. "What is this... problem?"

"The... the jar. It's gone."

The cultist popped like a grape as Lemminkaenen stormed out of the room, magical rage overflowing from his horn. Whoever lost the jar would pay hell for it.

"Get my Marauders! Make sure they're outfitted with the cutters this time!"

**\SPACE/**

Celestia sat patiently in her throne room, awaiting nightfall so that she could finally take a break from her duties. Today had been more hectic than usual, Manehatten was reporting more unusual activity, just like it was several years ago. Black Watch was reporting nothing out of the ordinary. There was a knock at the door, sounding too urgent to be Luna coming to take over.

"Your highness, there's a message for you!"

Shining Armour ran into the throne room, carrying a ruined letter in front of him. Bowing respectively, he handed it off to Celestia. She took it, unfolded the parchment, and sank back in shock.

"What is it, your highness?"

"Shining Armour, can the guards be mobilised overnight and sent to Ponyville?" she asked.

"How many guards are we talking, Princess?" he asked, confused.

"All guards on active duty."

"It would take two full days to move that many ponies your highness. One day if we forgo any preparation."

"Just get them to Ponyville. As many as you can."

"What's the matter Princess? Is Twilly in danger?" asked Shining Armour, worried about his sister.

"We're at war, Captain. And the Battle of Ponyville is about to begin. You have twelve hours to prepare."

Shining Armour sank back on his haunches. He never expected to be in a war, let alone one on such short notice. The guards were hardly battle ready. More so after the attack of the changelings, but still not war-ready.

"Yes, you highness." he bowed and left the throne room, breaking into a full run towards the guard compound.

**\SPACE/**

"Just get OUT!"

Black Watch had packed up his belongings and was about to leave. Twilight was still incredibly pissed off at his stunt from earlier. Watch knew it would blow over eventually, these things always did. Until then, he'd just have to stay elsewhere. Walking towards the edge of Ponyville, he set up his bedroll under a large tree. He looked out at the sunset. As the sun went down, he heard someone singing from a short distance away. It was a familiar song, one he'd heard before.

Black Watch got up and walked over to the source of the music. He saw a familiar pony, lying against a tree, singing the song. He walked into the forest clearing, and began to sing as well. The other pony looked up, and continued singing more enthusiastically. Black Watch and the other pony were now singing together, the one against the tree strumming a lute. As the song faded away, Black Watch stepped forward, embracing the other pony.

"It's been a long time."

"Yes it has."

**\SPACE/**

Blade looked out at the darkening sky. The shadows grew, yet their normal comfort didn't come. The assassin looked out over the horizon, and immediately dropped back. From Canterlot he saw several hundred if not thousand pegasus guards all flying over, straight towards Ponyville. All over the place, unicorn guards popped in, teleporting in from the capital city. Blade knew something was happening. He had to find a few certain ponies.

**\SPACE/**

Shining Armour ran over the library, hoping that nothing had happened yet. Indeed, he ran in only to be hit by a rather thick book. Clutching his sore nose, he stifled a curse.

"Shining Armour? Shining! Are you all right?"

Twilight ran out and embraced her brother. He flinched at the contact.

"Is something wrong?"

He looked at the ground nervously. With a sunken demeanour, he looked into Twilight's eyes.

"We're at war." he choked out.

Twilight was stunned into silence. She had to find Black Watch. Running past her brother, who immediately followed, she broke out towards the edge of town, the same way that Watch had gone.

**\SPACE/**

"So, Watch, done anything special since we last met?"

Watch chuckled a bit at the question, looking his old friend in the eye.

"You wouldn't believe the shit I've been through." he said light heartedly.

"You'd be surprised." was the response.

"Alright. Let's start from the beginning. Back when we met..."

**\SPACE/**

Mop up was a breeze. Not a single elemental could stand up against the abomination they'd constructed. Looking towards the prison area, he decided to see if he could maybe save any other potential prisoners. The abomination didn't fit through the door, so he decided to just kite any elementals back through this way.

It wasn't long before he stumbled across the body of that other pony from before. He still didn't know who she was, but it looked like she was still alive. That was surprising; the beating she took would have been enough to kill any normal pony. He probed into her consciousness to see if she was an elemental or not. She wasn't. So how did she survive?

He decided to get her some help. Picking up the unconscious mare, he carried her outside, trudging back through the muck, back towards New Yoke.

**\SPACE/**

"BLACK WATCH!"

Twilight stood over the two other ponies, looking, again, just frikkin' pissed off. Her horn began to glow intensely, and her magic aura surrounded Black Watch, throwing him away. He smacked into a tree on the other side of the clearing, falling in a heap to the ground.

"Black Watch, how could you do a thing like this?" Twilight asked angrily.

"Do what? Talk to an old friend?" he retorted defensively.

"Oh sure, easy for you to say. I find that hard to believe that you and this mare are just 'old friends'."

"We are, Twilight, we are. Perhaps introductions are in order?"

The other mare stepped forward, extending her hoof toward Twilight.

"I'm Golden Dusk, paladin of Avandra. Nice to meet you." she said.

Twilight recognized that name, spinning around to look at Black Watch. He looked up at Twilight, a blank expression on his face. A small trickle of blood crept down his cheek from under his mane.

"So you're Twilight, huh? I really expected you to be a bit more... formidable, in appearance really. You are an Element of Harmony, after all, and a defender of Equestria." Dusk spoke up.

"Uh, yes, I am Twilight Sparkle, Element of Magic. But I need to ask you, what's a paladin? And what is 'Avandra'?" Twilight asked.

"A paladin is a holy warrior, one who lives to see their god's will carried out. Whenever I fight, I can call upon the power of my lord to assist me. And how can you not know who Avandra is? She is only the most common deity in Equestria's religious circles." she explained.

"You believe in all this garbage religion? Why? We know that Celestia is the most powerful being, not some stupid god living on a different plane of existence!" Twilight retorted.

"You cannot deny that Avandra gives me strength! I have slain many powerful beasts by smiting them with Avandra's might." Golden angrily replied.

The two mares fell into bickering as Shining Armour stepped in to the clearing. Black Watch looked over at him, trying to stem the bleeding from his impact with the tree. Shining walked over to him and quickly healed the injury. Black Watch sat up, looking confused at Shining Armour. The Captain of the Guard returned the look.

"Um, who are you?" he asked awkwardly.

"Black Watch. You?"

"Shining Armour, Captain of the Royal Guard. Twilight seemed to know you." Shining remarked.

"Yeah, we either are or were together. She's pissed off, so I'm not quite sure if we're done or not. You know her too?" Watch replied.

"She's my sister."

"Oh." deadpanned Watch.

"So what do you do, Watch?"

"I'm a necromancer. I summon dead stuff." Watch said flatly.

Shining Armour looked disgusted for a second, but then settled down.

"Yeah, Princess Celestia told me about you. She didn't mention any names, but she did say that there was one necromancer."

"Well, it looks like the mares are refusing to talk to each other." noted Black Watch.

Indeed, Golden Dusk and Twilight were sitting back to back, forelegs crossed, and both were pouting. Twilight looked over at Black Watch.

"You can't seriously be friends with someone like this, can you Watch? I mean someone who worships a god?" asked Twilight.

"Yes Twilight. She might, but that doesn't matter to me. I don't give a damn what anyone else believes in. It makes no difference to me if she worships Avandra or if you put faith in Celestia." said Watch, trying not to fall into Twilight's trap.

"And what's your stance then? Who do you believe in?" she asked.

Black Watch hesitated, wondering if this was another trap. The Raven Queen was always appealing to him, as she granted him strength in the necromantic arts. He couldn't deny it. Twilight probably could.

"I am unaffiliated. End of story."

That seemed to satisfy Twilight, if just barely. Shining Armour was the next to speak up.

"Right, I just remembered what I had to tell you. Black Watch..."

"WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!"

Blade came crashing through the treeline, running right into Shining Armour. The two stallions rolled into the trees, Blade quickly jumping back to his feet and rushing Black Watch.

"Lemminkaenen's armies are attacking Ponyville right now!" he exclaimed urgently before turning and running back towards town.

Black Watch stood facing the other ponies around him, now completely serious. If Lemminkaenen was attacking now, it meant he was going all in. If he wasn't stopped, they were in some serious shit.

"Well, you heard him. Get to Ponyville. Dusk, your assistance is required. Shining Armour, you know the shtick. Twilight, get the other Element bearers. You're probably prime targets for Lemminkaenen. Ready? Go." ordered Black Watch.

**\SPACE/ watch?v=lOJqicM6x84**

The group ran into town, the sight of several small skirmishes already having broken out. The guards were doing their best to hold the line, but they were unorganized and unprepared. In three different places, the Marauder armies had already smashed through. There was no stopping this assault, not this time around.

The five remaining main six ran over to Black Watch's observation point, looking out at the carnage. Ponyville was a lost cause. Anyone left in the town was frantically trying to run away; panicked screams rang out as families were torn apart. Fluttershy was in tears at the sight, and even Pinkie was brought down into a more depressed state. At this rate, the town would be completely lost in 20 minutes. Black Watch turned to the mares.

"Girls, we are standing before the dawn of a new world. If Lemminkaenen wins, then everything is lost. We need to stop him here, now. I don't expect you to risk your lives to fight him, that's what the guards are here for. I need you to find Rainbow Dash. Go with Blade, he'll lead you to her. Good luck, and be careful." he said, emotion heavy in his voice.

The Element Bearers looked at him, and Blade stepped out from behind a ruined wall. The assassin stepped in, and gathered the Elements. Together, they began their run towards Ghastly Gorge. Black Watch turned around, the sight of the demolished town weighing heavily on his mind. He began to channel his magic, and zombies began to rise from the ground. As they arose, they charged the advancing horde of Marauders.

No sooner did they reach the horde than they got torn to shreds. These Marauders, they were wearing something new. Their armour looked as though it was covered in blades and spines. All they had to do was flail and they'd cut anything to bits. As Gordo rose from the dirt, a shadow smashed into the ground in front of Black Watch. Lemminkaenen materialized before him.

"Well, it looks like you're just about done, my boy. There's no stopping my assault. Only a handful of guards stand, thousands of my forces stand, and elementals are storming in as we speak. What do you have to say to that?"

"The Elements of Harmony." Watch spat in Lemminkaenen's face.

"Oh? Well, I'm sorry to say, they don't stand a chance against my Shadow Elementals. Not a single thing can hit them; not even magic."

As soon as he said that, the sky darkened. A massive black shadow began to eclipse the sun, casting complete darkness on Equestria. Only the fires of Ponyville allowed for vision. Small winged creatures began to swirl around the edge of the shadow.

"Are those your elementals?" asked Black Watch, eying them nervously.

"N-no, those aren't mine." For the first time, Lemminkaenen sounded nervous.

As the two stallions watched the shape overhead, they began to hear something approach from above. A rather familiar voice.

"!"

A shape began to grow larger and larger as it fell towards the ground. It was... a moose, spread eagle as it fell.

_Mooselin, you crazy idiot!_

Black Watch grinned as the moose fell, until he hit the ground face first. Undeterred, Mooselin sprang to his feet.

"Hey guys, what did I miss?" he asked as if nothing had happened.

The two stallions just stared at him, mouths agape.

"Well, if you aren't going to talk to me, I'll just go take my wares somewhere else. Hmph, some people." he pouted as he turned to walk towards Ponyville, oblivious to everything.

"Wait, Mooselin! What have you got?"

"Oh nothing much, just this nice little jar I found. It has some sort of fairy in it; I don't really know what it does. I'll ask it." He said, unscrewing the cap and shoving his snout in it. "Hey, Mr. Fairy thing, what is it that you do?"

A wisp shot through the open areas around Mooselin, entering the form of none other than Discord himself.

"Get that thing away from me! Don't let it get anywhere near me!" he screamed, frantically scrambling to get away from Mooselin. The moose just stood there absent-minded. Lemminkaenen was the first to speak.

"Umm... how did you get that?"

"Remy gave it to me. He said something about it being a powerful weapon or something, but I can't really remember." said Mooselin cheerily.

"Um, guys, there is a battle going on, if you wouldn't mind getting back to it?" Black Watch suggested sarcastically.

**\SPACE/ watch?v=ZQ2RzMbkfDI**

The five mares and the assassin hugged the hot wall of the steaming lava chamber. They had found Lemminkaenen's base about ten minutes ago, and were trying to make up for lost time and still not get noticed by guards. As they rounded the last corner, they saw two ponies standing in front of a large door. Blade motioned for the mares to stay where they were. After they acknowledged him, he broke cover and walked towards the two guards.

"Evening gentlecolts. Silence, naturally." he told them the password.

"Evening Blade. We weren't expecting you here; we thought you'd be at the battle." the first guard replied.

"No, large clusterfucks aren't my thing really. Now open the door."

"As you wish." the second guard grunted.

The gears turned, and the massive doors shifted aside. Blade began to walk through them, but quickly span around, sinking two knives into each of the guards' backs. They fell to the floor, and the mares quickly ran over to the assassin. As the six slipped through the door, it slammed shut behind them.

"Alright, I think that was all for guards. He'd rely on ponies not finding his base rather than on his ability to defend it. Go and look for Rainbow Dash." Blade ordered.

As they all split up, Blade couldn't help but think this was a bad idea.

**\SPACE/ watch?v=xE0UA8RREX4**

As the battle intensified, Black Watch was unable to find a chance to pause. Marauders were coming at him from every direction, and his wall of zombies was constantly being replaced. Even the abomination had fallen. Without any reagents to summon the Dracolich, he was severely underpowered. He had been backed into the library, or at least what was left of it, and there was no way he, Mooselin, and the fifteen other guards that had survived could make it out. From above, some sort of bombs had begun to fall, leaving maple-scented splashes everywhere they hit. He had seen a marauder get splashed, and immediately start chewing on itself, trying to eat the syrup.

He ducked to avoid being hit by a flying dire chinchilla, another one of Mooselin's additions to their force. They buzzed around, chewing up anything they crashed into. But even with Mooselin's aid, the battle was still going poorly for them. They had had no time to prepare, and that showed. As another guard bit the dust, he started to wonder how bad it would be if they lost. He knew that Lemminkaenen would be unstoppable, but just what would he do? Was all of this just a personal vendetta?

"Watch! Look at that!" he heard Shining Armour shout.

Looking out past the rows upon rows of Marauders, Black Watch could make out the shape of a few ponies. Rays of light fell upon the crowds, vaporizing anything unlucky enough to be hit. Not to mention how they were supplemented by lightning bolts that decimated the ranks. The two ponies responsible were none other than Golden Dusk and Seth Shadowsky.

As the other two made their way through the crowds towards the hold out area, the sky began to lighten. Clouds were becoming visible as the drifting space island that Mooselin referred to as "Bob the Cosmic Space Turtle" began to move away. The clouds were thick, and before long a heavy rain began to fall on the wasted town.

"Well Watch, how was our timing? Good enough for you?" quipped Seth.

"Could've done better, but that doesn't matter now. Just keep these things back."

Seth nodded, and the two ponies began to blast away at hordes. There was now a possibility that they could win this after all. Black Watch stood on the library's table, and began to speak to the fighters.

"My friends, companions, allies, followers, and fighters, I have this to say. Lemminkaenen thinks he has won. In truth, he might have. Before we surrender though, I want you all to know this. The longer we can hold this line, the longer it'll take that son of a bitch to move on the Canterlot, and the more time we have to acquire the Elements of Harmony. With those, we can win this. So bear in mind, this may very well be your last stand. Let's make it count. We'll make sure those who died did not die in vain! For Equestria!" he shouted, trying to encourage those left.

As he finished his speech, Shining Armour echoed his cry:

"FOR EQUESTRIA!"

As he did, so did the rest of the guards. With everyone ready, they began their counter-attack.

**\SPACE/ ** ** watch?v=Mw4O9pN-a1g**

Applejack was almost back to the entrance when she heard a muffled cry. Turning towards it, she saw that the maps and charts put up on the wall were actually large display cases. Rainbow Dash was in the upper most one. She was pounding on the glass, trying to break it.

"Blade! Rarity! Fluttershy! Twilight! Over here! Hurry!" she shouted, trying to get help.

As the ponies all approached her, she pointed out Rainbow Dash.

"Alright, I think I can break that with magic. Stand back girls." Twilight said.

She began to pump magic into her horn, and the glow intensified. She took careful aim, trying to avoid hitting anything else. She took a look up to make sure Rainbow Dash was clear of the window. She wasn't. Instead, the cyan mare was waving frantically, and shaking her head at the same time. Twilight was too late to realize what Dash was doing. She had already fired the blast when she realized it.

The pane of glass shattered, and the tiny shards rained down on them. Two ponies came flying out, a small bird sitting on the head of one of them. As they landed next to the group, Rainbow Dash became frantic.

"Twilight, what did you do that for? Now you've got the whole place on alert!" she yelled.

"What? But, we've been all over here, and there aren't any guards of any sort." Twilight calmly replied, confused by Rainbow's reaction.

"That's because you can't see them. But I can hear them. And one is... DUCK!" shouted the gray stallion.

All the mares dropped to the ground, and a loud whoosh was heard soaring over them. As they got back on their hooves, another smoking shape materialized in front of them. From ten feet above them, its glowing white eyes glared at the intruders. Its clawed hand flew forward towards Pinkie Pie, grabbing her before she could react. Rainbow Dash leapt forward, trying to save her friend. With its other hand, the thing smacked her away. It began to rise in the middle of the room, flying up towards the cell that Rainbow had been freed from. It threw Pinkie inside, and black wall of smoke covered the broken glass pane.

"What is that thing?" asked Applejack nervously. "Twilight, you ever seen anything like it?"

But Twilight wasn't there. She'd gone somewhere, but no one could see where. The thing descended upon the others, looking for an ideal next target. Before it could make another grab, a large chunk of it got blasted out. Then another. And then another. Before long, the thing had completely disappeared. Twilight stood behind where it used to be, horn glowing. Orbiting around her horn were three small balls of light.

"A simple illumination spell." she remarked.

**\SPACE/ watch?v=6O6Q1OiF6LI**

As another guard hit the ground, never to rise again, Black Watch knew that they'd stalled as long as they could. The line shattered, and Marauders swarmed the library. Seth and Golden had run to the highest point they could, hoping for salvation there. Shining Armour and the other surviving guards had opted for the basement, since they at least had a barricade. Mooselin and Black Watch were all alone in the main entrance, splitting to either group. Watch fled to the basement, Mooselin to the upper floor.

"Captain? Any ideas?" asked one of the younger guards.

Shining Armour sighed.

"Game over, my friend. Game over."

The mood was incredibly depressed, until another sound was heard.

"Knock knock."

A purple magic glow surrounded the furniture they'd used to barricade the door, and it burst open. All six bearers of the Elements of Harmony, as well as Blade stood in the main library. The weary fighters rose from the floor, smiling tiredly as they approached their saviors.

"Hell, it's about time." Black Watch commented.

"I did my best." shrugged Blade. "The girls deserve the credit though. Twilight managed to defeat a shadow elemental, no easy feat."

"Well, good work Twi. Now then, we still have a battle to win. The Marauders are being withdrawn; Lemminkaenen's bringing in the big guys now. The real tanks, he called them. Brace yourselves, this is going to be rough." replied Watch, contemplating what they could do with only a handful of zombies and skeletons, seven guards, two mercenaries and Mooselin.

"Hi, Mooselin van Poutine here, with this special battlefield offer! Buy..."

"Not now, Mooselin. How can you even think of selling stuff at a time like this?" interrupted Shining Armour.

"Hold it, Mooselin's bailed us out of some serious shit before. What is it? And cut the sales pitch." overruled Watch.

"Behold, five shiny rocks!" the merchant proudly displayed.

Shining Armour looked over at the necromancer, a bemused expression on his face.

"So how will this help us?"

"It'll save our asses."

The Captain of the Guard looked surprised at the statement. The necromancer eagerly dropped a bag of coins in Mooselin's collection bag and took the stones. Setting them up in a star-shaped formation, he began to flood magic energy into them. It wasn't long before they began to glow. A large beam of what looked like electrical energy arced between each of the rocks, and the area filled with a very bright light. As more energy was forced into the stones, they glowed brighter still. Before long, the entire library was illuminated by a bright purplish-white glow. Black Watch suddenly tensed up, and the glow dimmed.

"Watch, what's wrong?" exclaimed Twilight, rushing to his side.

"My magic is draining fast, too fast. I need someone to supplement it. NOW!" he barked.

Twilight's horn began to glow as she prepared to provide assistance to the necromancer. Shining Armour quickly stopped her.

"No Twilly, you need to be as strong as possible for the Elements to work. I'll do it." he said, horn glowing.

"But..."

"No buts. It's my duty to Equestria. I have mine, you have yours. Now do it!" he barked, catching Twilight off guard.

After a brief pause, she accepted it. The Captain of the Guard began to pour his own energy into the stones, causing them to glow even brighter than before. It was a matter of three minutes before Black Watch stopped his casting.

"Enough. I'm not sure I'll be able to handle anything more powerful." he stated flatly, waving everyone back.

The other ponies all backed away, giving him as much space as they dared. Black Watch began to recite something in a language they didn't recognize, but it clearly did something. A large skeletal head poked through the ball of light, followed by the body of a dragon. It was the dracolich.

But it was different this time. Rather than a blue glow, it gave off a deep blood red.

"Alright. This is our trump card. And we're going all in. Everyone with me?" Black Watch spoke up, turning his head towards the rest of the group.

"We've made it this far, I'm not turning back." said Seth, lightning dancing around his horn.

"By Avandra's might, we shall not hold back." Golden Dusk confirmed.

"That son of a bitch's as good as dead, my friend." agreed Blade.

"Don't forget about me! I'll do what I can." offered Sonic Boom, largely forgotten by all except Rainbow up to that point.

"Great. Let's rock and roll." Watch finished, and the entire group turned towards the ruins of Ponyville, watching the morning sunrise. As Celestia's sun bathed them in its comforting glow, the defenders of Equestria began their counter attack.

Lemminkaenen wasn't going to make it out of this one alive.

**\SPACE/**

**A/N: Well, there you have it. Chapter six, my longest in both length and time between chapters. Sorry it took so long, I had a lot of work to do with summatives, cadets, and exam prep. That and a spot of writer's block. That was annoying. And then there's League of Legends, which is also very addicting.**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this; the next chapter will be filled with kick-ass moments for everyone, particularly those OCs that got sent in. Speaking of which, **

**Credits:**

**Blade courtesy of ShadowZach**

**Seth Shadowsky courtesy of thehiddenbrony**

**Sonic Boom courtesy of InvaderXJadeXUchiha**

**Mooselin, Black Watch, Golden Dusk, they're all mine.**

**So please, hang tight, I'm almost done with this. In the meantime, you can check out my other story on fimfiction at **

** story/23132/Dragon-in-the-Burning-Woods%3A-Continuation**

**The third chapter is in progress, so that's where my writing's going after The Necromancer. For anyone who wants to follow me here rather than on FimFiction, I'll also upload it here.**

**That concludes these author's notes, so goodbye, farewell, and amen.**


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